What is wrong with the Intoximeter EC/IR breath test?
Apparently a lot. Wisconsin has purchased new breath testing machines. These are the Intoximeter EC/IR machines and they replace the Intoxilyzer 5000 in use up in Wisconsin as recently as last year. (Wisconsin doesn’t use the “Breathalyzer,” and hasn’t since the 1970’s.) The Intoximeter EC/IR uses a fuel cell to measure alcohol concentration by converting it to water and electricity. Recently an official of the Chemical Test Section, Wisconsin State Patrol, Department of Transportation, testified under oath that the Intoximeter EC/IR approved for use in Wisconsin was, in fact, not adequately shielded against “radio frequency” interference. As a result, many machines were taken out of service and installation of others was delayed. “Radio frequency interference” is a common phenomenon — it’s what opens garage doors when, it seems, no one is around. Cellular phones and police radios create radio waves and can cause “RFI.” Even though the State discovered in 1999 that the Intoximeter EC/
