Here’s an interesting news story from CosmeticsDesign.com about Massachusetts Senator Anthony Galluccio’s drunk driving arrest. The reason this caught the attention of my “beauty brain” is that the Senator claimed his that his toothpaste made him fail a breathalyzer test. Could this be true?
Tipsy toothpaste
The controversy centers around the ingredient sorbitol, a sugar alcohol which is used in toothpaste to provide sweetness and help maintain the water content of the paste. Galluccio regularly uses either Sensodyne Toothpaste and Colgate Total Whitening and reportedly a physician told him that these products could cause a positive breathalyzer result. However, James Herms, a formulator who helped develop Sensodyne formulas says that sorbitol ‘is not going to show up’ on a DOT-approved alcohol testing device. The only oral care ingredient likely to cause such an effect is ethyl alcohol, which is used in larger amounts in mouth washes.
Joe Dwinell from the Boston Herald, the paper that broke this story, tested this theory by brushing his teeth with the same Sensodyne product and then taking a breathalyzer test. After only two minutes, the results showed no trace of alcohol. While this certainly isn’t a scientifically rigorous test, the “sorbitol defense” certainly sounds like BS to me.
What do YOU think? Does this sound like beauty science or BS to you? Leave a comment for the rest of the Beauty Brains community.
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{ 7 comments… read them below or add one }
If its a bad toothpaste, it surely does. Good question.
Yes it is……
On an unrelated note, have you seen this beauty product – Derma Roller? Beauty with needles! I cannot really imagine this working, but I would be kind of worried if the needles really do pierce your skin (slightly) and you can use them more than once (“this product may be used for 3-4 weeks”). I mean the needles cannot possibly be sterile after using it once, can they? Isn’t this a risk? And even if you used a new once each time, can you really make tiny channels for anti-oxidants and “anti-aging nutrients”?
I thought it was cheap mouthwash that could make you fail a breathalyzer. Don’t homeless people buy it to make themselves drunk? (I remember Dr. G: Medical Examiner saying that.)
Ink – I’ve seen those before. Most people use them as S&M sex toys, not for beauty.
Toothpaste alone will never set off any decent breathalyzer. Breathalyzers will only test for ethyl alcohol, which I would say 100% of toothpastes do not include. It is true though that mouthwashes with alcohol in it, will set off a breathalyzer.
I just came up positive on a breathalizer after using Crest with sorbitol.
this is very true..! I blew hot on a pbt after using crest.. Not bs at all!