How to check if alcohol is real. How to distinguish ethyl alcohol from methyl alcohol

Ethyl alcohol serves as the basis for all strong alcoholic drinks. A surrogate potion is made from methyl alcohol, a component from the same class of organic compounds. The use of methanol is fraught with severe poisoning, disability and even death. It is difficult for an untrained person to distinguish methyl alcohol from ethyl alcohol by external signs. If the purchased drink is suspicious, you can resort to home tests that will identify the dangerous component.

How to check ethyl or methyl alcohol

Edible alcohol and deadly poison are similar to each other. Both compounds are a colorless, highly flammable liquid. But methyl alcohol has a less pronounced odor than ethyl alcohol. This is the only difference that unmistakably reveals a deadly substance.

If, when you uncork a bottle, a recognizable vodka “aroma” hits your nose, this is a sure sign of high-quality alcohol. But the lack of smell should alert you. You should not drink such a product until the nature of its origin is clarified. You can determine the class of substances using available tools without leaving your home.

Home methods of determination

When starting experiments, it is important to realize that a home laboratory will not replace a specialized one. There are 7 ways to detect methanol in a drink:

1. Assess the color of the flame when igniting alcohol.
2. Test with raw potatoes.
3. Determine the boiling point of the substance.
4. Do an experiment with baking soda.
5. Evaluate the reaction of the substance with potassium permanganate.
6. Carry out a test with copper wire and flame.
7. Apply Lang's test.

For reliability, it is worth using several methods to identify alcohol in a product. The result will be more accurate if the bottle contains pure methanol or its concentration is more than half of the total volume.

Flame color

It is better to carry out the test in a dark room, excluding all possible light sources. The experimental liquid is poured into a shallow container and then set on fire. The color of the flame and the rate of ignition of the substance are assessed. Ethanol ignites quickly and burns with a pale bluish flame. Methanol burns more slowly and has a greenish tint when burning. Cotton swabs will also work for the experiment: they are moistened in liquid and brought to a fire source.

This method cannot be called ultra-precise, since it is difficult to determine the color of the flame if the drink contains impurities. So, when boric acid is added, both substances burn the same way - with a green flame.

Reaction with potatoes

The experiment should be carried out only with colorless drinks. The liquid is poured into a transparent glass, then a slice of raw potato is placed in it and left for 3-4 hours. If during this time the root vegetable has changed its color to pink or lilac, then there is a surrogate in the glass. If the potatoes remain unchanged, the drink does not pose a health threat. Metamorphoses with the vegetable occur due to the interaction of starch with the test compound.

The disadvantage of this method is the long time that you need to wait to verify the safety (or danger) of the experimental liquid. Therefore, potato dough is not very common among people.

Boiling point

You can check for the presence of poison in an alcohol-containing drink by bringing it to a boil. To carry out the test, you need a thermometer that is resistant to high temperatures. The liquid is poured into a fireproof container, the device is immersed in it and put on fire together with it. They wait for the drink to boil and evaluate the results. Ethyl alcohol boils at +78° C, methyl alcohol – at +64° C.

The result will be accurate if pure alcohol is tested. If you need to test an alcohol-containing liquid, which is the majority of alcoholic products, this method cannot be relied upon.

Reaction with baking soda

The experience is based on the difference in the interaction of ethyl and methyl alcohol with an alkaline environment. This can be clearly demonstrated by adding a little baking soda to both substances (1 teaspoon per 1 glass) and mixing the solutions well. The surrogate will dissolve the white powder without residue and retain its transparency, while in baking alcohol the soda will fall to the bottom as a sediment in the form of yellow flakes.

This at-home alcohol testing guide will only work if the drink itself is colorless. If dark-colored wines, port, cognac or beer are tested, the cloudy sediment at the bottom may not be visible.

Reaction with potassium permanganate

Surrogate and legal alcohol interact with potassium permanganate in different ways. Differences in the reaction when mixing two components will be the main evidence of the presence (or absence) of methanol in the drink. This test is good because it can be applied to colored and dark-colored liquids.

Add potassium permanganate to a glass of alcohol on the tip of a knife and monitor the reaction. If there is a rapid release of bubbles, there is methyl alcohol in the glass. If gas is not released, but a vinegary odor is clearly felt, the experimental liquid does not pose a danger to the body.

Formaldehyde test

Copper wire is required for this experiment. Copper wire will do, but in this case it will be stripped of its insulating coating. The drink to be tested is poured into a glass. The metal is heated over a fire and quickly placed in a liquid. If there is an admixture of methanol in it, the smell of formaldehyde will soon be in the air. Edible alcohol will not emit an odor (sometimes it can smell like rotten apples).

The main disadvantage of this method is that not everyone knows what formaldehyde smells like. This substance can be identified by a specific hospital “aroma”, which is particularly persistent.

Lang's test

Lang's test or the oxidability of the liquid will help to distinguish between two alcohols. To carry out the test, you will need a glass test tube or a transparent narrow vessel. The test tube is first rinsed with the test liquid, and then 50 ml is poured inside. The container is placed in warm water (temperature + 15 ° C) for 10 minutes, making sure that the outside water is higher than the level of the alcoholic drink. Using a syringe, add 1 ml of potassium permanganate solution prepared from 1 liter of water and 0.2 g of potassium permanganate. The composition is mixed and placed again in water.

Next, measure the time it takes for the liquid to lighten from deep pink to light pink. The longer oxidation occurs, the safer the drink. Ethyl alcohol will discolor the liquid in 10–20 minutes, methyl alcohol almost immediately.

Precautions

Methanol is a potent poison that causes poisoning and subsequent complications. Just 5–10 g of a dangerous substance can cause blindness, and 30 g is considered a lethal dose. The toxic effect of the compound manifests itself not only when it is ingested, but also when interacting with it. Thus, methyl alcohol vapors penetrate the respiratory tract and through the skin, causing irritation of the mucous membranes, visual disturbances, headaches, and neuritis. This is why you need to be careful when working with methanol, even if you have no intention of drinking it. The following rules will help you protect yourself:

1. Work with the substance only in a ventilated area.
2. The respiratory organs must be protected with a respirator, and rubber gloves must be put on your hands.
3. Do not pour hazardous substances down the drain. It should be collected in a sealed container and transferred to special structures involved in the destruction of hazardous substances.
4. If poison gets on your skin or hands, wash it off with plenty of water. If alcohol gets on clothes, be sure to wash them in warm water.
5. If methanol is accidentally ingested, seek immediate medical attention.

You can purchase a methanol-based alcoholic drink without knowing it. Patients suffering from alcoholism are at risk. Alcohol addiction is so strong that a person does not realize that he is drinking poison. Alcohol abuse and periodic binges force a person to look for cheaper analogues of legal alcoholic beverages. Therefore, cases of fatal surrogate poisoning appear regularly in the media news.

In order to avoid unpleasant consequences, you need to purchase alcohol in trusted places - in the wine departments of large hypermarkets and specialized stores. You should not purchase alcohol in dubious places, by hand or from home winemakers. When purchasing, you should always pay attention to the presence of a tax stamp, an informative label and high-quality packaging. If the purchased drink does not inspire confidence, it is better not to drink it at all.

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“By eye,” especially for a non-professional, it is almost impossible to distinguish ethyl alcohol, which is included in all alcohol in the world, from its technical counterpart, methyl alcohol. This leads to annual mass poisonings in Russia and the CIS countries, where drinking alcohol of unknown or suspicious origin has become a bad tradition.

But drinking low-quality ethyl-based alcohol is not so bad (although in the pre-revolutionary classification it was also equated with poison). Methanol is the real enemy of the body. This is a powerful poison that, even in relatively small quantities, can have a detrimental effect on a person’s blood vessels and nervous system, and most of all on the state of vision, even to the point of complete blindness. And consuming just 30 to 100 grams (different for different people) of this substance can be fatal. Therefore, the question of how to determine it at home is by no means idle, but very urgent. Especially due to the fact that, according to experts, a huge amount of alcohol sold in our country is counterfeit!

We will tell you in our article how to distinguish it from ethyl, what is the difference between them. We hope that the knowledge gained will help you avoid unnecessary incidents and the harmful effects of methanol when drinking alcoholic beverages.

How to determine methyl alcohol at home

Many people remember the recent events in the Czech Republic, where it seems that many people suffered from “branded” alcohol. And this mass-produced counterfeit, packaged in beautiful bottles, contained methanol. Therefore, information on how to determine it at home is important and relevant. After all, methanol tastes and smells little different from ethanol. Of course, if you have a solution in front of you that contains only one type of alcohol, then you can determine the difference using various, fairly simple, methods, which we will discuss below. But if it is a mixture of alcohols, then their content and quantity can only be understood by examining it in the laboratory.

Traditional methods of determination

So: how to determine at home. The best methods are based on experience and are quite effective. The first of them: setting fire to alcohol. Pour test liquids into small bowls and set them on fire. We look closely at the color of the burning fire (and it will burn no matter what, since the strength is over 40 degrees) and compare. If it blazes with a blue flame, then we have ethanol, and it can be used for drinking purposes (of course, if there are no other harmful impurities). If combustion is accompanied by a green color of fire, then it is methanol. This fairly simple and effective method for determining methyl alcohol at home will undoubtedly work if the solution in front of us is sufficiently pure. And the method itself is based on some difference in the chemical composition of liquids.

Using potatoes

Using ordinary raw potatoes, you can also determine this difference. Potatoes need to be peeled and washed. We cut off a slice of the root vegetable and throw it into a small container containing the test liquid: presumably ethyl or methyl alcohol. After some time (usually a couple of hours), the potatoes in methanol should change their color and become pinkish. In ethanol, the slice practically does not change color.

Formaldehyde test

For this we will also need an open fire. The wire must be copper and stripped of its sheath. Pour the liquid to be tested into a bowl. We heat the copper over a fire and sharply dip it into a liquid medium. If we have methanol in front of us, then an unpleasant and rather pungent odor of formaldehyde appears. In this case, ethyl alcohol has virtually no odor (sometimes it can smell like apple aroma). Alternatively: add potassium permanganate to the liquid (buy at a pharmacy) and set it on fire. The smell can easily determine whether the alcohol belongs to one or another group of methanol or ethanol.

Precautions

If you suspect that you have taken methanol, you should immediately call a doctor, and not wait: they say, it will pass and resolve on its own. Signs of poisoning: sharp pain in the head, difficulty breathing, a person experiences malaise and weakness, pain in the abdomen and lumbar region, and possible vomiting. You can try to do a gastric lavage with the same magrantsovka in a light water solution. And by the way, knowing how to distinguish methyl alcohol at home may be useful here if the liquid that was ingested remains unfinished. And, oddly enough, 10% ethyl alcohol is considered a good antidote!

The main difference between ethyl alcohol and other types of such substances is its suitability for oral consumption. Other types of alcohols have properties that are more or less toxic to humans, so the ability to distinguish between their types will minimize the risk of chemical poisoning. The greatest danger of all types of non-food alcohol is methyl alcohol, due to its cheapness, prevalence and similarity in taste and smell to ethanol. Other types of alcohols (for example, isopropyl) are less common, but due to their similarity to food alcohol and toxic effects on the body, they also pose a significant danger.

Knowing the main differences between common types of alcohol and ethyl alcohol will help minimize health risks when drinking alcoholic beverages.

The dangers of methyl alcohol

It is worth knowing that methanol is no different from alcohol in color, taste and smell.

To distinguish potable alcohol from non-potable alcohol, appropriate research is required, which is not always done. Very often, based on the confidence that it was food grade alcohol that was purchased, this substance is consumed internally. The result will be severe poisoning, and in the absence of medical assistance, death.

In addition to knowledge of how to distinguish ethyl alcohol from methyl alcohol and in general, you will need to have information regarding the main effects of methanol on the body, know the symptoms of poisoning and primary aid.

Drinking vodka with methyl alcohol causes the following effects on the body:

• bilateral inflammation of the optic nerve, which can cause blindness;
• damage to the central nervous system;
• damage to the urinary system;
• destructive effects on the protein structures of the body, metabolic disorders.

Shortly after consuming this substance, the following symptoms appear:

• nausea, vomiting, sharp abdominal pain;
• fog;
• visual impairment (“floaters” before the eyes);
• headache;
• dizziness;
• increased salivation;
• an increase and then a sharp drop in blood pressure.

Thus, if no action has been taken to distinguish methanol from ethyl alcohol, some time after this substance enters the body, more severe consequences develop. The time of onset of such manifestations will depend on the amount of toxic substance entering the body.

Such manifestations include the following:

• visual impairment up to complete blindness;
• the appearance of pain in the legs and head;
• superficial alcoholic coma: speech impairment, vomiting, decreased body temperature, spontaneous urination;

deep alcoholic coma: swelling of the eyelids, dilated pupils, lack of response to painful stimuli, breathing problems, seizures and tachycardia.

Attention!

In the absence of medical care and in the case of consuming a significant amount of methyl alcohol, death can occur.

How to distinguish methyl alcohol from ethyl alcohol at home

There are several ways to distinguish food grade alcohol from technical grade alcohol at home. Each of them, provided the experiment is carried out correctly, allows you to distinguish good alcohol from bad with a fairly high probability. If the results of several types of tests are the same, the type of substance can be determined with high probability.

Some of these methods include the following.

Flame color

One of the simplest means to distinguish drinking alcohol from technical alcohol is to set it on fire. Ethanol will have a bluish flame color, while methanol will have a greenish flame color.

Reaction with potatoes

When peeled potatoes are placed in a container with alcohol, the type of substance can be determined by the color change of the vegetable. For the reaction to occur, it is necessary to soak the potatoes in alcohol for at least two hours. If the color of the potatoes changes to pink, this indicates methanol.

Boiling point

Another way to distinguish industrial alcohol is to monitor its boiling point. Ethanol boils at a temperature of 78 °C, and methyl already at 64 °C.

Reaction with baking soda

When mixed with ethanol, baking soda produces an insoluble yellowish precipitate. Methyl alcohol remains clear when soda is dissolved in it.

Reaction with potassium permanganate

You can also distinguish medical alcohol by adding a little potassium permanganate to it. In the case of ethanol, this will not cause any visible reaction. The reaction of methyl alcohol will produce gas and the smell of formaldehyde.

Formaldehyde test

This method, which allows us to distinguish drinking alcohol from methanol, is considered the most reliable.

To carry it out, it is necessary to lower a red-hot copper wire into the alcohol being tested. If this results in the release of a strong odor of formaldehyde, then this is methyl alcohol. When ethanol reacts, it produces an apple cider vinegar smell.

Lang's test

This method of distinguishing industrial alcohol from medical alcohol will require the presence of potassium permanganate, as well as a small container in which the alcohol can be heated.

To conduct the study, you will need to dilute 0.2 g of potassium permanganate in 2 ml of distilled water. Then heat 50 ml of alcohol to 18 ° C, pour the potassium permanganate solution into it and note the time when the color of the solution changes from purple to pink. If it took 10 minutes or more, then most likely you have ethyl alcohol.

Thus, the question of whether it is possible to distinguish methyl alcohol from ethyl alcohol can be answered positively.

How to distinguish other types of alcohols

Among alcohols there are many poisonous and toxic ones, so it is simply necessary to be able to distinguish them from each other, as well as to distinguish them from other substances with similar characteristics.

How to distinguish isopropyl alcohol from ethyl alcohol

Isopropyl alcohol does not pose the same level of danger as methyl alcohol, but if consumed in large quantities it will also have a negative effect on the body. The main reason for the harmful effects of this type of alcohol is the release of acetone during its breakdown in the liver. Also, the chemical composition of this substance causes a more abrupt onset of intoxication, which lasts much longer than after drinking ethanol.

You can distinguish isopropyl alcohol from ethyl alcohol by several criteria:

• smell: pungent, bitter, reminiscent of the smell of disinfectants;
• taste: bittersweet.

How to distinguish chacha from diluted alcohol

It will be much easier to distinguish chacha from diluted alcohol. Since chacha is actually distilled wine, such a product will differ significantly from diluted alcohol in both smell and taste.

Chacha has a fairly mild aroma and taste, in contrast to the sharp characteristic taste of alcohol. Therefore, even after trying the real drink once, you can easily distinguish real chacha from diluted alcohol.

How to distinguish vodka from alcohol

It will be somewhat more difficult to distinguish vodka from alcohol. In this case, everything depends on the quality of the product. Quite often, cheap vodka is nothing more than simply diluted alcohol, so there can be no difference in this case.

High-quality vodka has a fairly mild taste and smell, which makes it different from a banal solution of alcohol and water. But this only applies to expensive brands. In the case of cheap vodka, there will be no differences due to the fact that it is most likely diluted alcohol.

How to distinguish moonshine from alcohol

To distinguish moonshine from alcohol, it is advisable to have an idea of ​​the smell of artisanal alcohol and medical alcohol. Basically, moonshine has an aroma with notes of the raw materials from which it is made, and also, to a certain extent, has the smell of residual fusel oils. The smell of pure alcohol does not have such impurities. Therefore, in order to be able to distinguish moonshine from diluted alcohol, it is advisable to have an idea of ​​​​the characteristic smell of alcohol made at home.

How to distinguish alpha alcohol from luxury alcohol

It is much more difficult to distinguish alpha alcohol from luxury alcohol. These brands of alcohols are quite close according to GOST standards and belong to the products of the highest degree of purification. It is virtually impossible to distinguish these two types of alcohols by smell and taste, without the appropriate experience.

How to distinguish alcohol from phenol

In some cases, it is also required to be able to distinguish alcohols from phenols. In everyday life, phenolic compounds in their pure form are quite rare, but due to the high danger of such substances for health and life, it is necessary to be able to identify them by organoleptic characteristics.

The main indicator of the presence of a large amount of phenol in any solution is the clearly noticeable smell of gouache. Since this paint contains a significant amount of phenol, the smell of this substance is associated with it.

Phenol is a toxic substance. Its entry into the body causes severe burns of internal organs, disruption of the nervous, cardiovascular, and urinary systems. At high concentrations or large amounts, exposure is fatal.

The chemical property that distinguishes alcohols from phenols includes their much less pronounced acidic properties.

How to distinguish a ketone from an alcohol

There will most likely not be a need to separate the ketone from the alcohol at home. At the same time, it is worth knowing that ketones, due to the peculiarities of their chemical composition, are much more volatile. In particular, most substances in this group have a boiling point of about 52 degrees.

How to distinguish alcohol from acid

You can distinguish alcohol from acid both by the characteristic smell of the latter and by its reaction with various substances, for example, metals. Alcohols, unlike acids, upon contact with metal, do not form new compounds, which is reflected in a change in the color of the metal surface, and in the case of a high concentration of acid - destruction of the metal.

There are times when you need to check quality food and drinks. Of course, testing in laboratories is especially accurate, but check quality allowed at home. Let's say you can check quality alcohol .

You will need

• - Mirror;
• - alcohol;
• – potassium permanganate.

Instructions

1. Alcohol may contain various impurities of fusel oils, which are poisonous and hazardous to health. There are several methods to check quality alcohol independently, at home. For safety, it's best to use them all.

2. Mix 1 tbsp. alcohol and the same amount of clean cold water. Rinse your mouth quickly with alcohol and spit it out. If you smell plastic, it means quality alcohol trashy.

3. Take a mirror and thoroughly wash it with baking soda. Rinse it under running water. Leave the mirror to dry. Do not wipe it or speed up the drying process. Place a few drops on the completely dry surface of the mirror. alcohol. Now you need to wait until the alcohol has completely evaporated. The evaporation process must be natural; it cannot be accelerated. When the drops alcohol evaporate, see if there are any marks or stains on the mirror. If there are no streaks, then the alcohol is pure. If there are stains, it means that there are oils in the alcohol, and the larger the stains, the more numerous they are.

4. Add a few potassium permanganate crystals to a glass of water. You should get a weak solution. Pour three tablespoons into a clean container alcohol, then add one tablespoon of potassium permanganate solution. Then all that remains is to monitor and look at the time. If the alcohol turns the color of potassium permanganate in five minutes, it means the alcohol is of excellent quality. If coloring occurs first, it means that the alcohol contains foreign impurities. The faster the coloring occurs, the more impurities there are. Temperature alcohol should be 15-20 degrees.

5. How strong alcohol can be determined with an alcohol meter, the one sold in hardware stores. You are also allowed to pour a little alcohol on the table and set it on fire, the hotter it burns, the stronger the alcohol.

Ethyl alcohol is often necessary in everyday life. In cases where it is used for purely medical purposes - to wipe the skin before injection, to place cups or to make an alcohol compress - it quality may not be too high. The impurities contained in alcohol will not cause damage to health, since they enter the human body in minute quantities. However, if alcohol is used in home cooking, say, for the production of liqueurs, tinctures, alcohol extracts, then the question of its quality becomes very important!

You will need

• - mirror;
• – potassium permanganate;
• - matches.

Instructions

1. Remember that ethyl alcohol is of a fairly high degree of purity and evaporates from a smooth, clean surface without leaving any traces. A particularly suitable object for this test is a mirror. It must be completely free of debris, dust and traces of grease! To do this, wash its surface with some degreasing component (the easiest way to do this is with baking soda), then rinse thoroughly under running clean water, wait until it dries (without wiping with anything!).

2. Place the mirror horizontally and apply one to two drops to a clean, dry surface. alcohol. After the alcohol has completely evaporated, look at the surface in “oblique light,” that is, from the side. If the mirror surface is absolutely clean, or at least with barely noticeable “stains,” then the alcohol can be considered quite pure. If the stains are clearly noticeable, then there are quite a lot of impurities in the alcohol.

3. What if you don’t have a suitable mirror at hand, or you don’t want to waste time on a fairly long test? Not every person has the patience to wait until the washed mirror dries first and then the alcohol evaporates! In this case, you can do it differently. Prepare a small amount of a weak (clear pink) aqueous solution of potassium permanganate - KMnO4 and carefully pour it into the alcohol (preferably in a ratio of 1:3). The more foreign impurities there are in the alcohol, the more quickly it will turn the color of the “potassium permanganate” solution. If the alcohol is of high quality, then coloring will not occur before 5 minutes.

4. A completely primitive and not very reliable test consists of the following: pour a little alcohol into a flat container (a glass Petri dish or, in extreme cases, a saucer will do) and set it on fire. Pure concentrated alcohol burns with a fairly strong blue flame. The more impurities it contains, the more yellow the flame will have.

Video on the topic

Pay attention!
Always use caution when working with alcohol!

Useful advice
Particularly harmful impurities are the so-called “fusel oils,” which consist mainly of isoamyl and isobutyl alcohols, as well as various aldehydes and thick acids.

In most cases, people use tap water for drinking and cooking, without particularly thinking about its quality. Water mixed with sand and rust, with increased hardness, is not uncommon in Russia. You can check its quality independently using traditional methods.

You will need

• – Tap water;
• – Soft drinking water;
• – Black tea;
• – Plastic bottle;
• - Mirror;
• – Potassium permanganate;
• - Soap.

Instructions

1. Buy a bottle of soft purified water with a small number of minerals at the pharmacy. Brew strong tea from it and tap water in 2 different mugs. Compare what bubbles look like on the surface of the tea. The greater the difference between them, the less quality water comes from the water supply.

2. Another method of checking water quality is by brewing. Dilute strong, freshly brewed black tea with tap water. If the liquid is peach-colored and appears clear, the tap water is of wonderful quality. If the diluted tea becomes cloudy, clean the water before drinking and cooking.

3. Fill a plastic bottle with tap water and place it in an unlit place. Look at the water in the light after 2 days. If the liquid has acquired a greenish tint, an oily film is visible on the surface of the water, or a coating has formed on the walls of the bottle, drinking this water is strictly prohibited!

4. You can check the quality of the water using a mirror. Apply a drop of tap water to the reflective surface and wait until it dries completely. If the mirror remains clean, the quality of the water is not in doubt. If a cloudy spot remains on the mirror, there are impurities in the liquid. It is possible that the water has too much hardness.

5. Dissolve a couple of potassium permanganate crystals in water until it acquires a clear pink color. If the solution quickly turns yellow, the quality of the tap water is low. If the pink tint lasts for a long time, clean water flows from the tap.

6. Rub laundry soap with fine shavings and fill with hot water. If the water is soft, the soap will dissolve completely; if the level of content of minerals in the liquid is exceeded, an insoluble film will form on the surface of the water. In water with a very high concentration of minerals, soap flakes will float. Such water should be strictly filtered and boiled before use.

Pay attention!
You can determine how rough tap water is by looking at the scale in the kettle. The faster it forms on the walls of a heating household appliance, the larger the level of content of minerals in the water.

Useful advice
Aquarists can determine water quality by the behavior of freshwater mollusks of the family Unionidae. If even minor impurities appear in the water, the mollusks tightly close the shell valves.

Pay attention!
Excessive consumption of alcoholic beverages is unsafe for health.

Industrial alcohol poisoning is one of the most severe. Even when consuming a small amount of this substance, the human body receives serious poisoning, which often leads to death. Now we will figure out how to distinguish methanol from ethanol. The events that occurred in the Czech Republic, in which several thousand people were poisoned by counterfeit alcohol, make this information extremely relevant and very important.

The main problem is the lack of differences in the taste, color and smell of food alcohol and methyl alcohol, which is also called technical alcohol. This is the main reason for poisoning. Most often, ethanol is found in various household chemicals. However, there are cases when methyl alcohol is sold under the guise of medical or food grade alcohol.

Options for determining methyl alcohol

Origin. Buy alcoholic beverages only in specialized stores whose reputation you are confident in. In this case, the likelihood of stumbling upon counterfeit alcohol is much less than when buying in stalls and other dubious places.

Fire. The easiest way to check what kind of alcohol you are dealing with is by setting it on fire. Once the substance has ignited, pay attention to the color of the fire. Ethanol will have a blue flame, while methyl alcohol will have a green flame.

Potato test using potatoes? Take a small part of a raw potato and place it in the alcohol you are testing for a couple of hours. If the potatoes change color and acquire a pinkish tint, you have industrial alcohol in front of you. If the vegetable does not change color, there is ethyl alcohol in the container.

Formaldehyde method. This method is considered perhaps the most reliable. You need to take a copper wire and heat it on a stove or other fire source. Then, with a hot edge, you need to lower it into a bottle of alcohol. The specific smell that appears indicates that this is technical alcohol. Ethyl alcohol, unlike methanol, should not emit any odor upon contact with the wire.

Symptoms and consequences

Symptoms that occur with methanol poisoning:

• painful breathing;
• severe headache;
• pain that occurs in the abdomen and lower back;
• profuse vomiting;
• general malaise of the body;

It should be noted that the first symptoms of industrial alcohol poisoning are similar to simple alcohol poisoning. However, in the case of methanol, the consequences will be comparable to a disaster. It very quickly destroys vision, nervous system and blood vessels. Severe poisoning occurs when only 5 - 10 ml of the substance is consumed. Death occurs from 30 or more milliliters of the substance.