Current through Register Vol. 50, No. 9, September 20, 2024
A. The certified analyst shall inspect
instrumentation and equipment immediately before analysis is begun to insure
that the instrument is operating properly and that test results will be
accurate and within the tolerances indicated below.
B. The methods approved for alcohol analysis
of blood are:
1. gas chromatography-
headspace sampling with internal standard;
2. gas chromatography - direct injection with
internal standard;
3. gas
chromatography/mass spectrometry-headspace sampling with internal
standard;
4. gas
chromatography/mass spectrometry-direct injection with internal
standard.
C. Procedures
shall include the following controls in conjunction with each batch of samples
analyzed:
1. a system blank
analysis;
2. analysis of a whole
blood control of known alcohol content within the range 0.04 grams percent to
0.40 grams percent the result of which analysis must coincide with the known
blood alcohol value of the control specimen +0.01
grams percent if validity is to be assigned to the results for the batch
analyzed.
D. Replicate
analysis shall be performed in order to eliminate the possibility of undetected
errors.
E. Results shall be
expressed in terms of percent w/v (grams percent) that is, grams of alcohol per
100 milliliters of blood rounded downward to the second decimal place, for
example, 0.237 grams percent shall be reported as 0.23 grams percent.
F. Analytical procedures for determining the
concentration of alcohol in the blood shall meet the following requirements.
1. The accuracy of the procedures shall be
such as consistently to attain results within +0.01
grams percent of the known value over the range 0.04 grams to 0.40 grams
percent in analysis of commercially whole blood controls.
2. The precision of the analysis shall be
such as consistently to attain a reproductability not greater than
+0.005 grams percent from the mean value in replicate
analysis.
3. The blank values
yielded by the procedure in analysis of alcohol-free reagents consistently
shall be not greater than 0.00 grams percent.
4. Procedures for the analysis of whole blood
from living and post mortem subjects shall differentiate ethyl alcohol from all
other substances.
G.
Blood drawn for the purposes of determining the alcoholic content therein shall
have been taken with the contents of a sealed blood collection kit approved by
the Louisiana State Police crime laboratory. Such kits will be made available
to all law enforcement agencies by the Louisiana State Police.
1. All kits approved by the Louisiana State
Police crime laboratory contain the necessary preservative to insure stability
of the sample as provided by the manufacturer and contain no ethyl alcohol.
Each approved kit must be manufactured specifically for blood alcohol
determinations in living or post-mortem subjects.
2. Following analysis, the evidence will be
stored for a period of one year at room temperature or under refrigeration by
either the testing facility or the submitting agency and then may be destroyed.
Evidence collected subsequent to law enforcement investigations and/or search
warrant executions are subject to the aforementioned storage period and
destruction policy. Additional storage duration and/or destruction criteria may
be implemented by the testing facility or submitting agency.
3. The blood sample taken for analysis may be
maintained at room temperature and delivered to the designated collection site
of each enforcement agency within 24 hours of the end of the collecting
officer's shift. It shall be transported then to the laboratory utilized for
analysis at the earliest opportunity after collection, not to exceed 10
days.
H. Each laboratory
performing blood alcohol analysis must either be permitted by terms set forth
in the Louisiana statutory criminal law and procedure,
R.S.
32:663, or submit to the Louisiana State
Police crime laboratory for approval of written procedures with regard to the
following minimum standards.
1. Analysis must
be performed on a gas chromatograph with or without a mass spectrometer.
2. Any procedures for blood
alcohol determinations as outlined in these rules and regulations shall be
considered minimum standards.
3.
Maintenance repair and inspection must be in accordance with guidelines listed
in §557
AUTHORITY NOTE:
Promulgated in accordance with
R.S.
32:663.
