Blood alcohol content (BAC), also called blood alcohol concentration, blood ethanol concentration, or blood alcohol level is most commonly used as a metric of alcohol intoxication for legal or medical purposes.
Blood alcohol content is usually expressed as a percentage of alcohol (generally in the sense of ethanol) in the blood. For instance, a BAC of 0.10 means that 0.10% (one tenth of one percent) of a person's blood, by volume (usually, but in some countries by mass), is alcohol.
| Progressive effects of alcohol |
|---|
| BAC (% by vol.) | Behavior | Impairment |
|---|
| 0.010–0.029 |
- Average individual appears
normal
|
- Subtle effects that can be
detected with special tests
|
| 0.030–0.059 |
- Mild euphoria
- Relaxation
- Joyousness
- Talkativeness
- Decreased inhibition
|
|
| 0.06–0.09 |
- Blunted feelings
- Disinhibition
- Extroversion
|
- Reasoning
- Depth perception
- Peripheral vision
- Glare recovery
|
| 0.10–0.19 |
- Over-expression
- Emotional swings
- Anger or sadness
- Boisterousness
- Decreased libido
|
- Reflexes
- Reaction time
- Gross motor control
- Staggering
- Slurred speech
- Temporary erectile dysfunction
- Possibility of temporary alcohol poisoning
|
| 0.20–0.29 |
- Stupor
- Loss of understanding
- Impaired sensations
- Possibility of falling unconscious
|
- Severe motor impairment
- Loss of consciousness
- Memory blackout
|
| 0.30–0.39 |
- Severe central nervous system depression
- Unconsciousness
- Death is possible
|
- Bladder function
- Breathing
- Dysequilibrium
- Heart rate
|
| 0.40–0.50 |
- General lack of behavior
- Unconsciousness
|
- Breathing
- Heart rate
- Positional Alcohol Nystagmus
|
| >0.50 |
- High risk of poisoning
- Possibility of death
|
Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blood_alcohol_content
