Did you know that the alcohol content in your blood can continue to rise even after the blood has been drawn out of your body? This is referred to as blood fermentation and just like wine or whiskey, your body ferments.

What Is Blood Fermentation?

Tiny organisms living in your blood consume the sugars in your blood and their waste product is alcohol. Therefore, when the blood is drawn out of your body, these organisms continue to consume the sugar in the blood vial, and continue to produce alcohol, raising the alcohol content of the blood for up to 5 days after the blood has been drawn. Now, the only way to prevent this is refrigeration and preservatives.

The average blood test tube used in the United States contains 20 milligrams of a preservative, but noted Swedish scientist and blood analysis expert, A. W. Jones, says that that amount is insufficient to prevent fermentation and it must be 100 milligrams.

In other words, American police are using and American courts are accepting a mere one-fifth of what’s actually required to stop fermentation in your blood. If there’s not enough preservatives in the blood, the blood will ferment, and the BAC will continue to rise.

How Can A Lawyer Argue A Blood Draw Drunk Driving Case?

It is a prosecutor’s job to prove beyond reasonable doubt to every element of the case, and one of those elements is your BAC. Therefore, if your blood is introduced or the result of the test of your blood is introduced at trial, the prosecutor has to prove that the results are reliable.

If there are insufficient preservatives in the blood, this is an issue that your lawyer should understand and be prepared to argue at a blood draw DUI case.