ALCOHOL BREATHALYZER AND DRUG TESTING EQUIPMENT MARKET ANALYSIS

Alcohol and drug testing equipment are used to test the level of intoxication caused by alcohol and drug in the body. Some of the equipment used for testing alcohol and drug content include breathalyzer, urine testing devices, oral testing devices, and hair testing devices, immune assay analyzers, and chromatographic instruments.  

The global alcohol breathalyzer and drug testing equipment market is estimated to be valued at US$ 5,215.4 million in 2022 and is expected to exhibit a CAGR of 6.3% during the forecast period (2022-2030).

Figure 1. Global Alcohol Breathalyzer and Drug Testing Equipment Market Share (%), by End User, 2022

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Increasing number of drunk and drive cases and drug addiction are expected to be major factors for increasing demand of alcohol breathalyzer and drug testing equipment, which is expected to drive the market growth over the forecast period

The increasing number of drunk and drive cases and drug addiction are expected to be major factors for increasing demand of alcohol breathalyzer and drug testing equipment. For instance, according to 2018 Fatal Motor Vehicle Crashes: Overview by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, a U.S. federal agency, 10,511 deaths were registered in the U.S. in 2018 due to drink and drive accidents. Moreover, according to the 2019 National Survey on Drug Use and Health (NSDUH), 85.6 percent of people ages 18 and older reported that they drank alcohol at some point in their lifetime, 69.5 percent reported that they drank in the 2021 year, and 54.9 percent (59.1 percent of men in this age group and 51.0 percent of women in this age group) reported that they drank.

Figure 2. Global Alcohol Breathalyzer and Drug Testing Equipment Market Share (%), by Region, 2022

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Stringent government regulations and laws to reduce incidence of driving under influence of drugs and alcohol are also expected to propel growth of the market.

Stringent government regulations and laws to reduce incidences of driving under influence of drugs and alcohol are also expected to propel growth of the market. For instance, the state government of New Jersey imposed new drunken-driving laws from December 1, 2019 that eliminates license suspensions for most first offenders, while requiring all motorists convicted of driving under the influence to install ignition interlocks, the in-car breathalyzers that immobilize a vehicle if the driver's breath registers too much alcohol.

Global Alcohol Breathalyzer and Drug Testing Equipment Market– Impact of Coronavirus (COVID-19) Pandemic

Since the COVID-19 virus outbreak in December 2019, the disease has spread to over 100 countries across the globe and the World Health Organization had declared it a public health emergency on January 30, 2020.

COVID-19 can affect the economy in three main ways: by directly affecting production and demand of drugs, by creating disruptions in distribution channels, and through its financial impact on firms and financial markets. Due to nationwide lockdowns, several countries, such as China, India, Saudi Arabia, U.A.E., Egypt, and others, are facing problems with regards to the transportation of drugs from one place to another.

However, the COVID-19 pandemic had a negative impact on the global alcohol breathalyzer and drug testing equipment market, owing to decrease in the drug testing activity. For instance, in October 2021, according to the data published by the National Center for Biotechnology Information, Lab-based urine testing, the gold standard for drug testing, remains the dominant drug testing method, but it notably slipped a few percentage points from 89 percent in 2020 to 85 percent in 2021. Meanwhile, employer use of less intrusive testing methods—lab-based oral fluid, hair testing, instant urine, and instant oral fluid testing—increased. Moreover, due to pandemic-related logistics and health concerns, it is harder to get traditional testing done, and many collection sites have also been performing COVID-19 testing. In response, employers compensated by moving to other testing options. Most employers, around 98 percent, perform some form of drug screening on their employees.

After a 15 percent decrease in drug testing from 2019 to 2020 for First Advantage clients, post-accident positivity rates soared by 17 percent across all industries. This trend is even more pronounced when compare post-accident positivity rates for customers who did perform pre-hire testing with those who did not. For those who did, their post-accident positivity rate rose 17 percent; however, the positivity rate doubled for those who did not perform pre-hire drug testing during that same time of COVID 19.

Global Alcohol Breathalyzer and Drug Testing Equipment Market: Key Developments

In July 2022, Cannabix Technologies Inc., a Vancouver-based technology company and developer of marijuana breathalyzer devices for law enforcement and the workplace reports that the company is participating in a new comprehensive multi-analysis study of subjects under the influence of marijuana. The new study will work alongside toxicologists and law enforcement officers in the southern U.S. In late June 2022, the Cannabix Technologies Inc., company participated in the first of three testing sessions that are expected to be held over the summer. The company has been coordinating for several months on its participation in this study with senior administrators. The study will test subjects under the influence of marijuana alongside several conventional drug screening methods (blood, oral fluid etc.), in conjunction with the use of Cannabix’s proprietary breath capture and marijuana detection equipment. Cannabix had granted use of its Breath Collection Unit and newly developed laboratory ‘MS Breath Sampler’ equipment to this important new research study focused on the detection of marijuana impairment in human subjects.

Global Alcohol Breathalyzer and Drug Testing Equipment Market: Restraint

The major factors that are expected to hinder growth of the global alcohol breathalyzer and drug testing equipment market include inaccurate and wrong results provided by some breathalyzers and the low cost of alcohol breathalyzer and drug testing equipment manufactured by local players in the unorganized sector. For instance, in November 2019, National Center for Biotechnology Information, investigation found that breathalyzer generate irregular results with alarming frequency, owing to improper calibration or improper programming in breathalyzer’s software.

Moreover, low cost of alcohol breathalyzer and drug testing equipment manufactured by local players in the unorganized sector is also expected to hinder growth of the overall market, especially in emerging markets. The cost of Alcohol Breathalyzer manufactured by local players is 20% – 30% less compared to those of established players in North America and Europe.

Key Players

Major players operating in the global alcohol breathalyzer and drug testing equipment market include Dragerwerk AG & Co. KGaA, Quest Products, Inc., Intoximeters, Lion Laboratories Ltd., C4 Development Ltd., Alere, Inc., Lifeloc Technologies, BACtrack, Securetec Detektions-Systeme AG, and Andatech Private Ltd.