In Canada and USA, a blood alcohol concentration (BAC) of 80 mg/dl is considered legally intoxicated. If a 150 lb pregnant female consumes six alcoholic beverages, or a bottle of wine in a 2 h period a BAC of 200 mg/dl would be reached. In human studies, the BAC data from the mothers are generally not available, however, estimates suggest that BACs of over 200 mg/dl may be responsible for the severe FAS phenotype (63), while lower BACs may produce milder forms of FASD. Despite the lack of BAC data in human beings this measure is often used to compare exposure levels across species. This is because the absolute dose of ethanol administered (in gram of ethanol/kilogram) can vary greatly from species to species (42) so the BAC is a more reliable measure of intoxication.
