FAQ Breathalysers

It depends on how you'll use it. For the odd check before driving, a single-use breathalyser is all you need. For regular personal use, a digital breathalyser with a replaceable sensor, like the AL7000, is the best value, and a fuel cell model like the AlcoDigital Platinum is the most accurate. Workplaces should start with our screening kit, or choose a Dräger for evidential testing.

With digital breathalysers you get what you pay for: the more expensive models tend to be more accurate and more reliable.

The Dräger Alcotest 7000. It's highly accurate, needs calibrating just once a year, and becomes evidential when paired with the Dräger mobile printer, which prints a record of each test. It's the most popular choice for businesses testing employees.

The AlcoDigital Platinum fuel cell breathalyser. It's highly accurate, compact, comes with a hard case, and you change the sensor yourself instead of sending it away for costly recalibration like many other fuel cell breathalysers. It's popular with businesses screening employees, and as a Christmas gift.

The AlcoDigital AL7000. It's our best-selling personal breathalyser and a popular choice for employers, schools and colleges. The sensor clips in and out, so when it's due you fit a new pre-calibrated sensor at home rather than sending the breathalyser away. It reads in mg/L and comes with a hard case, 5 mouthpieces and an in-car power lead.

Not a digital one, in our experience. Very cheap digital and keyring breathalysers are rarely accurate, so we don't sell them. On a tight budget, choose single-use breathalysers instead, from £1.99 each. If you'll test regularly, the AL7000 is a far more robust and reliable buy, and its sensor is easy to change.

Most employers use two stages: a quick front-line screen, then a more accurate test for anyone who screens positive. Our workplace alcohol screening kit covers both, with 20 single-use detectors and an AL7000 digital breathalyser.

For safety-critical roles, many employers screen at 0.02% BAC, which our single-use kits read. If you need evidential results, choose a Dräger breathalyser with the Dräger printer.

In our experience the AL7000 offers excellent value for NHS services. It's robust, reliable in daily use and comes in a protective case. Use a fresh professional mouthpiece for each patient.

A parent asked us recently: their teenagers had just passed their driving test and were borrowing the car, and they wanted to be sure there was no drinking and driving. For young, inexperienced drivers we'd suggest zero tolerance. Our single-use kits show a 0.00% level, so you can check there's no alcohol at all, and any of our digital breathalysers work well too.

Knowing they'll be tested helps young drivers resist peer pressure, because they know they'll lose their car privileges if they test positive.

Make sure it shows the lower 0.05% BAC level, which is 0.22 mg/L on a breathalyser that reads breath alcohol. Our single-use kits read 0.05% as well as the UK and zero-tolerance levels, so they suit Scotland, France and most of Europe.

Drivers in France used to be fined for not carrying a breathalyser. That fine no longer applies, but many drivers still carry one.

The Dräger evidential breathalysers, from one of the world's leading makers of police breath-testing equipment. The most accurate personal breathalyser we sell is the AlcoDigital Platinum, accurate to ±0.005% BAC at 0.05% BAC.

Right here. We've supplied alcohol and drug tests since 1998, with free Royal Mail tracked delivery on orders over £50. If you're not sure which to choose, call us on 01263 731 168 or use the live chat, Monday to Friday, 8.30am to 4.30pm.

In England, Wales and Northern Ireland the limit is 80mg of alcohol per 100ml of blood (0.08% BAC), or 35 micrograms per 100ml of breath. That's 0.35 on a breathalyser that reads in mg/L. Scotland's limit is lower.

Scotland lowered its limit in December 2014 to 50mg of alcohol per 100ml of blood (0.05% BAC), or 22 micrograms per 100ml of breath. That's 0.22 on a breathalyser that reads in mg/L.

They vary by country, but most are 0.05% BAC or lower. Many countries set lower limits, sometimes zero, for new or professional drivers, and penalties often rise with the reading. See our guide to drink-drive limits by country.

Under the Railways and Transport Safety Act 2003, pilots, cabin crew and air traffic controllers have a limit of 20mg per 100ml of blood (9 micrograms per 100ml of breath), a quarter of the England and Wales drink-drive limit. Professional seafarers have a limit of 50mg per 100ml of blood (25 micrograms per 100ml of breath).

Many employers in transport, rail and construction set their own lower limits, often 0.02% BAC. In 2026 the Government also consulted on a 20mg limit for new and professional drivers in England and Wales.

There's no simple answer, and our advice is not to drink and drive at all. Alcohol affects everyone differently, and any alcohol in your system impairs your driving. Use a designated driver who doesn't drink, a taxi or public transport.

We've long said the England and Wales limit is too high and should come down to Scotland's 0.05% BAC. In 2026 the Government consulted on doing exactly that.

On average the body breaks down about one unit of alcohol an hour, but this varies hugely from person to person. It depends on:

• how much you drank, and the type and strength of the drinks
• whether you drank with food or on an empty stomach
• your body weight, sex and age
• your metabolism and how well your liver is working
• whether you drink regularly or occasionally
• any medication you're taking

Yes, if there's still enough alcohol in your blood to be detected. After a heavy night you can easily still be over the limit the next morning, even if you feel fine. That's why many people test before driving the morning after.

It depends on the sensor. Fuel cell sensors, used in the AlcoDigital Platinum (±0.005% BAC at 0.05% BAC) and Dräger models, react specifically to alcohol and are the most accurate. Semiconductor sensors, like the one in the AL7000, are reliable for screening at a lower price.

All the breathalysers we sell are accurate when used as the manufacturer instructs. Wait at least 20 minutes after drinking, eating, smoking or using mouthwash before you test.

Follow the guidance for your model. Replace the AL7000 sensor at least every 12 months, or sooner with heavy use; the breathalyser tells you when it's due. Replace the AlcoDigital Platinum sensor about every 12 months or 500 tests. Both use pre-calibrated clip-in sensors, so there's no need to send the breathalyser away. Find replacement sensors here.

Yes, storage matters. Avoid keeping a breathalyser in your car's glove box: it can drop well below freezing on winter nights and get very hot in summer, and extreme temperatures affect accuracy. Keep it in its case in a bag or briefcase you take out of the car, and let it reach room temperature before testing.

Yes. EtG urine test strips detect a breakdown product of alcohol for up to around 80 hours after drinking. Alcohol test strips detect alcohol in saliva, breast milk and other liquids.

No. Each Test and Drive single-use breathalyser is complete and ready to use.

In a workplace or healthcare setting, use a new mouthpiece for every person and throw it away afterwards.

For personal use you can reuse your mouthpiece. Wash it after each use in hot soapy water, rinse it in clean water and let it dry. If you're testing family members, or testing people repeatedly at a school or similar, it's reasonable to give each person their own mouthpiece to reuse.

Professional mouthpieces have a one-way valve, which stops anyone cheating the test by sucking instead of blowing. Choose these for workplace or healthcare testing. Standard mouthpieces have no valve and are fine for personal use. Shop mouthpieces.

Our professional one-way mouthpieces fit the AlcoDigital Platinum, AL7000, AL6000, AL6000i, AL5000, DA5000, DA7000, DA8000, CA2000, Alcomate, Alcomate Pro, Alcomate Prestige, and Alcohawk Pro and ABI.

They don't fit Dräger breathalysers, which need Dräger mouthpieces. Our current professional mouthpieces are slightly smaller than older stock after a change of manufacturer; they still fit the AL7000 and have the same one-way valve.