Too much booze? Give it some gas

The next time a quick pint becomes one too many, Canadian scientists might have the answer: a machine that can quickly sober up drunks.

The briefcase-sized device enables people to expel large amounts of alcohol in their breath. Its inventors say it could provide a reliable alternative to black coffee and cold showers – which do nothing to cure drunkenness.

The machine pumps air with higher-thannormal levels of carbon dioxide through a facemask. This allows an inebriated person to breathe more heavily and rapidly without feeling light- headed or fainting. By hyperventilating, they release more alcohol in their breath.

As a rule of thumb, the amount of alcohol in their system will halve in about 45 minutes, whether they are tipsy or blind drunk, the machine’s inventors say. The body normally takes about an hour to process one unit of alcohol.

The device was originally designed to treat carbon monoxide poisoning. It has been approved by regulators for that purpose, and is already available to buy for NZ$22,000.

A study published in the journal Scientific Reports described how the machine had been used to reduce blood alcohol levels in a small group of intoxicated volunteers. Joseph Fisher of the Toronto General Hospital Research Institute, who led the study, believes it could be a ‘‘ rescue therapy’’ for life-threatening alcohol poisoning.

Hyperventilating for extended periods can lead to dizziness and fainting, because the person expels too much carbon dioxide. When a person breathes through the device, the concentrations of CO in the gases on

2 either side of the lining of the lung, in the blood and in the air, become similar, so the body stops releasing it.