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Development of certified reference materials of ethanol in aqueous solution resulting from the participation of GUM in EMPIR 16RPT02 ALCOREF project

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Abstract

The measurement of alcohol concentration in exhaled air is used worldwide for sobriety checks by police and other services. Breath alcohol analyzers are instruments for the determination of alcohol (ethanol) mass concentration in exhaled air. These instruments are evaluated and calibrated in many countries (among others in Poland) using wet gas standards produced in situ from aqueous standard solutions in breath simulators. The value of the mass fraction of ethanol in the solution is necessary to determine the concentration of ethanol in the produced gas standard. New reference materials of ethanol in an aqueous solution intended for use in breath simulators for calibration and testing of breath alcohol analyzers were developed as a result of the Central Office of Measures (GUM) participation in the EMPIR 16RPT02 ALCOREF project. CRMs were certified following standard ISO 17034:2016 and ISO Guide 35:2017 ensuring traceability of certified values to SI units and covering ethanol content ranging from 0.129 g/kg to 5.051 g/kg required by OIML R126. The certified mass fractions of the ethanol and expanded uncertainties (k = 2) of the four reference materials representative for the entire range were (0.2588 ± 0.00040) g/kg (GUM 12.2), (0.6470 ± 0.00074) g/kg (GUM 12.3), (1.0352 ± 0.0014) g/kg (GUM 12.4) and (5.0506 ± 0.0092) g/kg (GUM 12.8). The CRMs produced by the procedure presented in this paper have been found to be fit for purpose.

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Acknowledgements

The authors would like to thank Dr. Rosemarie Philipp from the Federal Institute for Materials Research and Testing (BAM) for providing the CRMs of BAM production and for performing GC-FID analyses of RM solutions prepared at GUM; Dr. Jakub Karasiński and Dr. Julio Torres of the team of Prof. Ewa Bulska from the Biological and Chemical Research Centre of the University of Warsaw for carrying out analyses using the GC-MS technique. The 16RPT02 ALCOREF Project has received funding from the EMPIR program co-financed by the Participating States and from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation program.

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  1. Physical Chemistry and Environment Metrology Department, Central Office of Measures (GUM), Warsaw, Poland

    Piotr Janko, Ewa Malejczyk & Michał Nawotka

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  1. Piotr Janko
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P.J. drafted the main manuscript text and prepared figures. All authors participated in measurements, the evaluation of measurement data, and reviewed the manuscript.

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Correspondence to Piotr Janko.

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Janko, P., Malejczyk, E. & Nawotka, M. Development of certified reference materials of ethanol in aqueous solution resulting from the participation of GUM in EMPIR 16RPT02 ALCOREF project. Accred Qual Assur 28, 35–48 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00769-022-01529-4

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