The new framework imposed by the “Zero Alcohol at the Wheel Law” -incorporated days ago at the national level but already in force in some provinces, such as Buenos Aires- requires not only a paradigm shift among drivers, who can no longer protect themselves in the old margin of tolerance, but also the eradication of certain beliefs that persist among some people and that today could cost them a harsh penalty.
Hence, days after the National Senate converted the Zero Alcohol initiative into law, civil organizations, road safety specialists and toxicologists reiterate their warnings about the effects that the intake of alcoholic beverages has on drivers and question the false beliefs that persist around how to mitigate them.
As experts point out, although the elimination of alcohol from the body depends on various individual factors (such as the weight, age and gender of each person, as well as the amount and alcohol content of the drink that was ingested) the process it is usually slower than is generally believed and cannot be sped up.
“No matter how much someone says, for example, ‘I’ll have a strong coffee’ or ‘I’ll take a shower’, they should know that none of that is useful since alcohol necessarily needs to be metabolized and eliminated by the body. There is no way to speed up or change this organic process”, highlights the president of the Civil Association Let’s Fight for Life, Alberto Silveira.
Alcohol “is always metabolized and degraded in the liver and the components end up being eliminated in the urine,” explains the toxicologist Carlos Damin, who details that on average “0.12 grams per liter are eliminated every hour” and “Alcohol will remain in the blood until the liver does not finish fulfilling its function.”
Thus, with the aforementioned exceptions, “a glass of wine or a pint of beer takes at least a whole hour to be eliminated in the blood, while a measure of fernet, vodka or whiskey requires at least three hours,” explains the toxicologist.
Although these are general estimates, “drinking beer is not the same as fernet” -Damin differs- because “beer has between five and six degrees of alcohol” while fernet “has 40 degrees”, which means that, “In a bottle almost half is alcohol.”
Meanwhile, wine has between 12 and 16 degrees of alcohol, that is, “more than beer, but less than vodka, fernet or whiskey.”
FACTORS THAT IMPACT
As the specialist points out, “alcohol is absorbed much faster if you don’t have food in your stomach, so your blood alcohol level is much higher if you drink alcohol without eating.”
Regarding the incidence of the age of the person who consumes alcohol in its metabolization process, Damin points out that “it is not the same to drink alcohol at 18 years of age than at 50”, because “at 50, normally, people eliminate alcohol faster” than at 18″, because “the liver -may be- more accustomed to getting rid of it”.
On the other hand, in women, “alcohol is a little more concentrated in the blood than in men,” warns the specialist, explaining that the phenomenon is due to characteristics of their metabolism.
The weight of the person also influences how long it takes to eliminate alcohol in the blood. “It is not the same for a person from 45 to 60 kilos to drink a pint of beer than a person of 110,” said the doctor, who explains that this is because the volume in which that same amount has to be distributed is much less in the one who weighs less, therefore, “the blood alcohol level will be higher at lower body weight”.
In general terms, given the case of alcohol consumption at parties, where alcoholic beverages can be consumed for several consecutive hours, “at least a wait of at least eight hours is required” to drive, “says Damin.
ATTENTION WITH THE HANGOVER TOO
In any case, “it is important to understand that when you drink alcohol you should always drink a lot of water, because that quenches thirst and removes the stimulus to continue drinking,” recommends the specialist.
The truth is that from the perspective of road safety, the problem is not limited to drunkenness. By producing dehydration, headache, nausea, vomiting and heartburn -product of alcohol consumption-, the hangover also “affects the cognitive sphere to be able to drive”, clarifies the professional.
