On Monday 14 November 2005 19:29, LACTNET automatic digest system wrote:
> Subject: Re: blood alcohol and varying information sources
>
> OK... I get this, Diane... but is the alcohol level in the mother's
> breastmilk the same as the alcohol level in the mother's BLOOD? That is
> what I'm struggling with here. I don't see how it canNOT be.
I got curious the more I read here and pulled my lab reference handbook off
of my Palm. It gives the following numbers for varying blood alcohol
levels and the effect on human beings. I made the conversions in
parentheses to the system for measuring blood alcohol levels that more of
us are accustomed to.
<50 mg/dL = (< 0.05%) limited incoordination
50 - 100 mg/dL = (0.05% - 0.1%) incoordination
100 - 150 mg/dL = (0.1% - 0.15%) mood, personality, behavior changes
150 - 200 mg/dL = (0.15% - 0.2%) prolonged reaction time
200 - 300 mg/dL = (0.2% - 0.3%) nausea, vomiting, diplopia, ataxia
300 - 400 mg/dL = (0.3% - 0.4%) hypothermia, dysarthria, amnesia
400 - 700 mg/dL = (0.4% - 0.7%) coma, respiratory failure, death
Taking this a step further and looking at the percentages, if I've got MY
fundamental understanding correct, the percentages are the content of
alcohol in the blood. (e.g. with 100 mg/dL of alcohol in the blood, the
percent of alcohol present in the blood would be 0.1%.)
Considering that the distribution in the lungs (for breathalyzer testing)
correlate highly with the percent alcohol in the blood, it makes sense
that this would be true for breastmilk.
Again, though, looking at those percentages, the actual amount transfered
would be petty small considering that beer is something like 12% alcohol,
and so forth. Even at on-the-verge-of-dead drunk, the actual amount of
alcohol in the blood (and conversely the breastmilk) is still under under
1%. At a level that one would be considered legal to drive (e.g. under 80
mg/dL or 0.08%), the percentage of alcohol in the blood is less than
one-tenth of a percent.
--
-Elisa H. Casey
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