GERD and acid reflux may affect a DataMaster DMT breath test result. Reflux brings liquid from the stomach upward, allowing gases from that liquid to mix with exhaled breath.
This can introduce alcohol from a source other than alcohol in the bloodstream. Alcohol that remains in the stomach has not necessarily been absorbed and does not, simply by being present there, establish its effect on the brain.
A DUI breath test is intended to sample deep-lung, or alveolar, air as an indicator of blood alcohol concentration. If reflux contaminates that sample, the validity of the result can be called into question.