In other situations, a person may develop a plateau where the blood alcohol level does not change for up to two hours. This occurs because the rate of absorption is equal to the rate of elimination. After two hours, the rate of elimination will exceed the rate of absorption and the blood alcohol level will begin to decrease. Once in the blood, alcohol is carried throughout the body. During absorption, the BAC of arterial blood is greater than the BAC of venous blood.
Arteries carry blood to a tissue, veins remove it.
At equilibrium, when body fluids and tissue have absorbed a proportionate quantity of alcohol, the BAC of arterial blood is equal to the BAC of venous blood. BAC A person's weight and sex determine the total volume of body water and consequently the BAC obtained upon consumption of a particular quantity of alcohol. Generally, the more a person weighs, the larger the volume of body water and the lower the BAC obtained from the consumption of a given amount of alcohol. A female may have more fat tissue than a male of the same weight and therefore a smaller volume of body water. As a result, a female may obtain a slightly higher BAC upon consumption of the same quantity of alcohol as a male, all other factors being equal.