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Monday, September 14, 2009 Bonnie asks

Q: can advair show up on breathalizer?

my son takes advair and albulteral and registered a .011 on a breathalizer, but had nothing to drink. can these medications cause a false positive?

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Answers (2)
9/16/09 12:38pm

According to materials I have read, Albuterol can register false positives on alcohol breathalizer tests.  Some of the reasonings behing how this occurs is complicated to understand, but this post here explains it pretty well.  If you are using an Albuterol inhaler, and you get pulled over, you should tell the officer you just used an asthma inhaler and tell him that you request a blood alcohol test.  To read something a bit more comlicated, you can read this court ruling. 

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9/18/09 2:27pm

Allow me to revise my above answer.  Studies have shown that metered dose inhalers (MDIs) like Albuterol can can effect breathalizer results.  However, Advair is not an MDI (it is a dry powdered inhaler).  I have found no conclusive evidence at this point to confirm nor deny Advair will register on a breathalizer. 

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