Methanol

Many deaths in Tamil Nadu have been linked to the consumption of hooch or spurious liquor containing ethanol and high levels of methanol.

About Methanol (CH3OH):

• Known as “Wood Spirit/Alcohol,” methanol is a colourless, volatile, and flammable liquid with a faintly sweet pungent odor, similar to ethyl alcohol.
• Characteristics:
  • Completely soluble in water.
  • Considered a cleaner alternative fuel.
• Applications: Methanol is used as a precursor to acetic acid, formaldehyde, and aromatic hydrocarbons. It also serves as a solvent, antifreeze, and is involved in the production of synthetic dyestuffs, copy machine fluid, gas line antifreeze, pharmaceuticals, and perfumes.
• Health Risks: Exposure can cause nausea, vomiting, headache, blurred vision, coma, seizures, permanent blindness, damage to the central nervous system, or death.
• Treatment: Treatment for methanol poisoning includes administering folinic acid or fomepizole (an antidote).