Can a penny really beat a Breathalyzer test?

The stories about students who successfully "tricked" the Breathalyzer test have been repeatedly told. For example, there's the one about the guy who got away scot-free because of the pennies hidden under his tongue or the girl whose tongue-ring saved her from a night in jail.\nAlthough rumors of this nature abound, there is a lack of scientific evidence suggesting they are actually true. The truth is, drinkers who submit to an Indiana state Breathalyzer exam will be face-to-face with a highly trained police officer and the Indiana state Breathalyzer, the Blood Alcohol Content DataMaster. The DataMaster carries considerable weight in the justice system because it is the only breath test instrument that can be used as evidence in an Indiana court of law. The DataMaster uses infrared spectroscopy to compare a person's breath sample to a known concentration of ethanol vapor in order to calculate BAC, according to the Indiana State Department of Toxicology's Web site, http://isdt.iusm.iu.edu/. Believe it or not, the DataMaster is actually calibrated to benefit the defendant, with the potential to underestimate any BAC by up to 20 percent.\nIndiana has used the DataMaster, which is manufactured by National Patent Analytical Systems, since 1990. \n"They are very accurate, and there is nothing a person can do to give the National Patent Analytical Systems a concentration of alcohol that is incorrect," said Peter Method, a research analyst for the Department of Toxicology, which gathers scientific evidence for the state's impaired driving program.\nFor any believers out there, "nothing" includes putting pennies in your mouth.\nIUPD Capt. Jerry Minger said throughout his career at IU, he has seen at least a dozen of these techniques used in an attempt to deceive the DataMaster, but none have succeeded. \n"The breath test procedure required that an officer waits 20 minutes (before performing the test) and inspects the entire mouth, under and above the tongue, before administering the exam," Minger said. "It is impossible for these 'folk tale' deception techniques to have any effect on the results whatsoever." \nMinger added that this procedure ensures the results of the breath test accurately reflect a person's blood alcohol content. He said Indiana state law mandates that in order for a police officer to be authorized to operate a breath test instrument, he or she must enroll in a recertification course every two years.