Originally Posted by
The AvgasDinosaur
When I was a serving police officer and intoxylizer operator/trainer alcohol was ‘a colourless, oderless substance liquid at normal ambient temperature’ the security personnel who can smell alcohol on anyone’s breath hasn’t been born yet. Or this ones evidence has been miss reported. Given a regular drinkers accumulated tolerance over time I seriously doubt such a low level would actually be discernible.
still it has no valid place in the bloodstream of flight crew on the, or intending to be on the, flight deck any time soon.
be lucky
David
When people talk of smelling "alcohol" on the breath, it usually isn't actually alcohol. It is more often a metabolic product of the breakdown of alcohol by the body - an aldehyde or ketone. That said, alcohol (ethanol) is most definitely not odourless. I work in a lab and we have 99.5% pure ethanol here. It has a distinctive smell, not unlike vodka.