Reidsimmons

RE: Blood Alcohol

Under "July 24, 2007 arrest"

"...her blood alcohol level was tested at between 0.12 and 0.13 percent - above the California legal limit of 0.08 percent."

I realize this is the wording from the source, but it's mathematically wrong. 0.12 should read as "12%", not "0.12%". The difference is two orders of magnitude, or 100x. If you really had a BAC of 0.12 %, you likely drank a teaspoon of beer.

The line should read as follows, "...her blood alcohol level was tested at between 0.12 and 0.13 (12 to 13%) - above the California legal limit of 0.08 (8%)." —Preceding unsigned comment added by Reidsimmons contribs) 15:58, 1 July 2008 (UTC)

Sorry, but you're wrong. The legal limit is 0.08% (that is, eight-hundredths of one percent). Read Blood alcohol content. Someone with a BAC of 12% would probably be dead. Ward3001 (talk) 16:09, 1 July 2008 (UTC)

Ward3001's right. A human body contains about 5 liters of blood. 12% of 5 liters is .6 liters of alcohol. Beer is about 5% alcohol, so to drink .6 liters of alcohol would require you to drink 12 liters of beer, roughly 6 six-packs. That ignores the fact that your body would have to somehow magically excrete the water in the beer while retaining all the alcohol.
Kww (talk) 16:16, 1 July 2008 (UTC)

Try looking to a source such as webmd (http://www.webmd.com/mental-health/alcohol-abuse/blood-alcohol); I bet they know a thing or two more than the sources claimed at the bottom of wikipedia's page on the same topic. Are there percent signs in the notation on webmd's site? No, not one. So why the discrepancy? Because super-smart American culture has trained folks to say "percent" when talking about BAC, even though it's [usually] inaccurate. If you don't trust webmd to know a bit about BAC, go ask a doctor or chemist or somebody, I have.

Also, I'll address your math. You did your calculation with beer. Personally, I know several folks who have successfully drunk a lot more beer than that in one sitting. That notwithstanding, what about folks who drink stronger (100 or 150 proof ) alcoholic beverages? You're saying they can't drink more than a liter or two before croaking. Again, there is a significant population who have done that on several occasions and lived to tell about it. Also, using your numbers: 5L of blood in a human -> 0.02% is 0.0338140227 fluid ounces BUT a 20oz beer with 5% alcohol has one whole fluid ounce (1oz), nearly 30 times the amount that would get you to 0.02%. I know your body filters some of the alcohol out, but not that good. Check your math again.Reidsimmons (talk) 17:29, 1 July 2008 (UTC)

You're digging yourself in deeper, Reidsimmons. WebMD has no percent signs because they use widely accepted standards that omit the percent sign. This is simple biology. A human body cannot tolerate 12% alcohol. That is medically impossible. And Kww didn't say you can't drink more than one or two liters (i.e., physically impossible to drink that much). He said someone would have to drink more than 12 liters of beer with all the water removed to achieve a BAC of 12%. Let's use a little common sense. Ward3001 (talk) 17:45, 1 July 2008 (UTC)