Alcolor Breathmeter

EMHT1669

Alcolor Breathmeter

One of the first commercially available, practical breathalyzer's. Sold in its day for 30 shillings and came in a box 16.5 cm x 115 cm x 20 cm including two instructions for use. It consists of glass vials, a metal glass file, plastic bags and rubber mouthpieces. When blowing into the plastic bag the breath is exposed to, originally yellow crystals, now green, marked with a red line about half way up the column of crystals. In essence, a guide to the level of alcohol in the bloodstream is indicated by the yellow crystals turning to different intensities of green and how far up the column the colour extends. For example, 30 mg of alcohol per 100 mg of blood shows the first signs of green in the lowest part of the vial; 50 mg an easily recognisable green in the same area with this level being the permitted maximum; 80 mg a more intense green covering the whole of the vial below the red mark; 100 mg produces an intense green beyond the area of the red mark. The pack contained six tests.

Cotswold Chemical Company Ltd, 41 Rodney Road, Cheltenham, Gloucestershire.

1967 (when the breathalyzer first came into force) -1970s

Physical Object

Main Room: Centre