One of the most terrible alcohol poisoning is the use of methyl (technical) alcohol instead of ethyl (food) or medical. Even a small dose can be fatal. I will tell you how to distinguish methyl alcohol from ethyl alcohol. After the events in the Czech Republic, where thousands of people suffered from fake alcohol containing methanol, this information has become vital.
The problem is that technical alcohol does not differ in taste, smell and color from food alcohol. It is this feature that causes poisoning. Methanol is usually found in solvents, antifreeze liquids and other household chemicals that are not intended for ingestion, but due to various circumstances it can be sold under the guise of drinking.
Methods for determining technical alcohol
1. Origin. Buy alcohol in trusted stores, where the risk of becoming a victim of a fake is much lower than at dubious points of sale (stalls, from moonshiners, etc.).
Drink and dilute pure alcohol only from well-known sources. If it is the products of distilleries or medical alcohol, there will be no problems, in all other cases the risk of accidentally drinking methanol increases many times over.
2. Ignition. This is one of the easiest ways to check. The liquid is ignited and the color of the fire is monitored. Ethanol burns with a blue flame, industrial alcohol – green.
3. Potato check. A small slice of raw potatoes is thrown into a container with alcohol for several hours. If the potato has not changed its color, then you have pure food alcohol that you can drink. In methanol, potatoes usually take on a pink hue.
4. Formaldehyde test. It is considered one of the most reliable methods. Copper wire is heated on fire, then immersed in a liquid. If there is a sharp unpleasant odor, you can not drink alcohol, it is methanol. Ordinary ethanol, when immersed in hot copper wire, does not emit odor.
Symptoms of technical alcohol poisoning:
- sharp headache;
- labored breathing;
- general malaise;
- pain in the abdomen and lower back;
- vomiting;
- lethargy.
All these signs are also similar to ordinary alcohol poisoning, so they are often confused. But in the case of methyl poisoning, the consequences are much more serious. Methanol quickly destroys the visual, nervous and vascular systems. For severe poisoning, 5-10 ml of methanol is enough, and 30 ml causes death.
If a person becomes ill after drinking alcohol, doctors recommend immediately calling an ambulance, and not hoping that everything will go away by itself.