Poisoning with methyl alcohol. Deadly "non-freeze"

Methyl, or wood alcohol (methanol) is a colorless volatile liquid, highly flammable, miscible with water, ether and ethyl alcohol in any ratio, poisonous. In industry, it is used in the synthesis of formalin, formaldehyde, isoprene, acetic acid.

In the gas industry, methanol prevents the formation of hydrates in gas pipelines. Methanol is an excellent solvent, it is part of the detergents for glasses and mirrors, winter windshield washer fluid - "anti-freeze", is added to motor fuel as antifreeze, and also to increase the octane number, can be used as a fuel.

How to distinguish methyl alcohol from ethyl alcohol?

The danger to humans is that methyl alcohol is practically indistinguishable from ethyl alcohol in color, smell and taste. It is also, like the latter, highly flammable and burns in air with a blue flame. In everyday life, you can try to distinguish two alcohols in the presence of copper wire. Twisting it into a spiral, it is heated red-hot over a fire and lowered into the liquid under study. If we are dealing with methanol, then a sharp, characteristic smell of formaldehyde will definitely appear.

Lethal and toxic doses of methyl alcohol

The most frequent cases of methyl alcohol poisoning, often massive, were observed when using counterfeit alcohol, as well as when stealing from railway tanks and industrial warehouses. The situation is aggravated by the fact that it is almost impossible to distinguish between these two alcohols by organoleptic properties. Since the first symptoms of poisoning appear an hour later, after ingestion, a person often manages to take an amount of poisonous liquid several times greater than the lethal one.

A dose of 5-10 ml has a pronounced toxic effect, leads to irreversible blindness, and 30-40 ml leads to death. However, due to various reasons, the lethal dose can vary greatly. There are cases when, after taking 40 ml of 15% methyl alcohol, a fatal outcome occurred. At the same time, a case of survival after drinking 500 ml of pure methanol was recorded.

Symptoms of methyl alcohol poisoning

An hour later, sometimes later, after taking methyl alcohol, weakness, chills, nausea, vomiting, abdominal pain, dizziness, and headache appear. On the part of the organ of vision - "fog", "film" or "flakes" before the eyes, photophobia. When a clinic of eye damage appears, in most cases blindness occurs, even if medical care is started at that moment.

There may be loose stools, the appearance of an admixture of blood in the vomit (hemorrhagic gastritis). In the future, the development of convulsions, a decrease in blood pressure, depression of consciousness, up to coma, is possible. Toxic effects are associated with the metabolic products of methanol - formaldehyde and formic acid. They cause edema and atrophy of the optic nerve, severe metabolic acidosis. Death can occur as a result of acute cardiovascular failure (pulmonary edema, exotoxic shock), acute renal failure, respiratory arrest.

Even with all the necessary emergency medical care, lethality from methyl alcohol poisoning reaches 20-30% or more, more than a quarter of the survivors become disabled of the first group due to complete blindness or a significant decrease in visual acuity.

First aid for methyl alcohol poisoning

The effectiveness of treatment largely depends on the timing of seeking help and the amount of poison taken. First aid in case of poisoning with methanol or a liquid containing it consists in inducing vomiting artificially and immediately taking an antidote. The antidote is what they were going to take initially, i.e. - ethanol. It is urgent to ingest about 100-150 ml of vodka or any other alcoholic beverage in an adequate dose. The liver enzyme alcohol dehydrogenase plays a key role in the metabolism of alcohols in the human body. The affinity of ethanol for this enzyme was found to be significantly higher. When ethyl alcohol is absorbed, alcohol dehydrogenase switches to it and "forgets" about the methanol circulating in the blood. Due to this, the formation of formaldehyde and formic acid is blocked, methanol is gradually excreted from the body unchanged by the kidneys.

H It is necessary to distinguish between banal alcohol intoxication that occurs when high individual doses of alcohol are consumed. Additional intake of ethyl alcohol in this case will only worsen the condition. Actual methanol poisoning occurs much earlier and is accompanied by visual impairment and a rapid increase in life-threatening symptoms. After taking the antidote, you should immediately seek medical help.

In the toxicological department of a hospital or the general resuscitation department, intensive therapy is carried out aimed at eliminating metabolic acidosis, correcting electrolyte disturbances, and maintaining vital functions. Methanol poisoning is an indication for hemodialysis.

There are two main "directions" in which alcohol leads the drinker to death. In some cases, death occurs from ethanol poisoning in the composition of alcoholic beverages (any, from beer to cognac), in other situations - as a result of the development of chronic diseases and hidden pathologies. These two reasons are dangerously interconnected: if ethyl alcohol does not poison instantly, its components provoke the development of diseases that end in the death of an alcoholic.

Among other causes of alcohol mortality: accidents and poisoning with low-quality drinks based on methyl alcohol (methanol).

Poisoning

From alcohol intoxication for a non-drinking man, young, healthy, weighing about 70 kg, death can occur if:

• the dose will be 750 ml of hard liquor or 1.2 liters of beer (300 ml of pure ethanol)
• alcohol will be drunk in less than 5 hours;
• drinking will take place without snacks.

A person who is not an alcoholic but who drinks regularly can become poisoned if:

• the dose will be more than 2 liters of high-grade drinks or 5 liters of beer (600 ml of pure ethanol);
• alcohol will be taken up to 5 hours.

With smaller portions, with a plentiful snack and a longer period of drinking, at first alcohol will be less dangerous - it will cost the drinker without consequences (a maximum morning hangover syndrome can be expected), however, each subsequent dose will cause irreparable harm to the body, provoke the processes of destruction of internal organs, leading gradually to death from alcohol.

Statistics say that death from alcohol intoxication occurs if the concentration of ethyl alcohol in the blood is at least 1.5-2 ppm. It happens like this:

1. With a sharp increase in alcohol in the blood, a failure occurs in the rhythm of the heart.
2. The heart beats irregularly, so it loses its ability to pump blood in a healthy way.
3. The lack of blood supply to the internal organs leads to sudden coronary death (cause of death of 15-20% of the Russian population).

If the dose of alcohol is even greater, extremely severe intoxication with a fatal outcome can be expected within a few minutes after drinking alcohol. In addition, in this case, the answer to the question of whether it is possible to die from a hangover becomes 100% positive. The measured poisoning of one's body leads to death every year up to 3% of the inhabitants of Russia.

Diseases

According to WHO statistics, every year in the world from alcohol intoxication and diseases of the internal organs provoked by it, 4% of the population, that is, approximately 2.5 million people, die annually. Among these cases:

• at least 21% of deaths from alcohol are due to various oncological diseases provoked by alcohol;
• more than 16% of people who drink die from liver disease (most often from cirrhosis);
• up to 14% of deaths are associated with cardiovascular diseases;
• 18% of deaths are associated with other chronic diseases and pathologies aggravated due to.

The list of organs that are affected by pathologies due to excessive alcohol consumption (from simple beer to "heavy" vodka) is very wide. Among them:

• liver;
• heart and cardiovascular system;
• pancreas;
• kidneys and urinary system;
• lungs.

The most common side effects of alcohol poisoning are:

• necrosis of pancreatic tissue;
• liver failure;
• alcoholic psychotic disorders;
• acute pancreatitis;
• arrhythmia;
• renal colic;
• asthma attacks of allergic, toxic or other origin;
• swelling of the heart and / or lungs;
• strokes and heart attacks.

Accidents

Slightly less than 30% of deaths due to an accident - such is the statistics of alcohol mortality in the world according to WHO. This is the third part of the number of all deaths from drunkenness and a significant part of all accidents recorded annually in the world. There are many reasons why drunkards do not die of their own death:

• falling from rooftops and bridges;
• falling out of windows;
• getting under the wheels of vehicles (cars, trams, trains);
• gassing;
• hypothermia or overheating;
• improper handling of household appliances;
• death in fires;
• drowning.

If the dose of alcohol (even beer) was large enough, the drinker does not understand that the conditions around him have changed - altitude, temperature, obstacles. The reflexes of an alcoholic are blunted, so he can easily crash a car, fall from a height, or get into a fight in which he will not have a chance. Choking on one's own vomit, drowning in a puddle, burning from a cigarette butt dropped in alcohol intoxication, freezing on the threshold of one's own house - all these ridiculous accidents happen to a third of all drunkards.

Slightly less frequent, but still not too rare, are the suicides of alcoholics. Caused by the abuse of alcoholic beverages (especially if it is low-quality methanol-based alcohol or a mixture of, for example, vodka and beer), psychoses can provoke drinking people to take their own lives because of hopelessness or in rage, in protest against everyone around them.

Medications

Alcohol and drugs cannot be combined with each other. Alcoholic drinks (even a certain amount of beer) can either make drugs simply ineffective, or completely and in the most unpredictable way change their effect. For fatal poisoning, it is enough to mix alcohol with the means:

Avoiding alcoholic beverages while undergoing medication treatment can be vital. However, every year a certain number of drinkers forget this simple wisdom.

Surrogates

High cost, beautiful label and bottle are not always signs of quality alcohol. Often, even in reputable stores, there are samples of cognac, vodka or beer created on the basis of methyl alcohol (methanol). And this type of raw material is much more dangerous than ethanol, because:

• vision suffers from methanol;
• methyl alcohol is the cause of poisoning of internal organs and systems;
• methanol leads to alcohol intoxication much faster and with a much larger amount of damage;
• methyl alcohol (methanol) endangers life itself.

Methyl alcohol as a lethal replacement for ethyl alcohol is used in industry, methanol is prohibited in food production, since it is the strongest poison for the human body. Due to the fact that alcohol based on methyl alcohol (methanol) does not visually differ from real alcohol, dangerous drinks are sold with great efficiency, although mostly in the low market price segment.

Alcohol abuse is dangerous and leads to death. It doesn't matter what exactly it comes from - from an accident, an overdose or a disease. There is only one outcome, and this is what all beginning and established alcoholics should remember.

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Ethyl alcohol poisoning.

Both ethyl alcohol itself and its metabolite, acetal dehyde, have a toxic effect.
Clinic. When poisoning with ethyl alcohol, periods of euphoria, arousal and coma are distinguished, which in turn are divided into three degrees of severity. The lethal dose of ethyl alcohol is 5-10 g/kg. Euphoria and excitement are characterized by excessive talkativeness, impaired coordination of movements. As the severity of poisoning increases, apathy, adynamia, vomiting appear, there is a decrease in blood pressure, temperature, tachycardia, cyanosis, respiratory failure, severe metabolic acidosis, aspiration of vomit is possible.

Treatment. Gastric lavage, forced diuresis, intravenous 10% glucose solution with insulin, 4% sodium bicarbonate solution, amino acids, B vitamins, ascorbic acid. In case of respiratory failure, oxygen therapy is carried out, and in more severe cases - mechanical ventilation. It is necessary to use means stabilizing hemodynamics. Of the special methods, hemosorption is used.

Methyl alcohol poisoning.

The lethal dose when taken orally is 60-100 ml. During the metabolism of methyl alcohol, highly toxic formaldehyde and formic acid are formed.

Clinic. Characterized by early visual impairment, severe cyanosis, shortness of breath, metabolic acidosis, cerebral edema.

Treatment. In case of methyl alcohol poisoning, ethyl alcohol is a specific antidote, which binds alcohol dehydrogenase, which prevents the utilization of methyl alcohol and the formation of its metabolites. Ethyl alcohol is administered as a 5% solution at the rate of 0.5-0.75 g/kg. Otherwise, the treatment does not differ from that of ethyl alcohol poisoning.

Barbiturate poisoning

It is most often seen as an accident or a suicide attempt. The lethal dose is from 4 to 8 g, depending on the toxicity of the drug and individual tolerance.

The clinic is determined by the dose of the drug and is manifested by drowsiness, slurred speech, lack of a gag reflex, deep slow breathing, constriction of the pupils. As the severity of poisoning increases, the pulse quickens, blood pressure decreases, pathological types of respiration (Cheyne-Stokes) appear with a transition to frequent superficial. Respiratory arrest may occur.

Treatment is primarily aimed at ensuring and maintaining airway patency and pulmonary ventilation. Spend sanitation of the tracheobronchial tree, oxygen therapy, according to indications - mechanical ventilation. In addition, gastric lavage, forced diuresis with alkalization, correction of water-electrolyte metabolism and acid-base state are carried out, if necessary, corticosteroids, adrenomimetic agents are administered. The use of hemosorption, enterosorption is also shown. Respiratory analeptics are not used for barbiturate poisoning.

Alcohol has been known for a very long time (since the reign of Peter I), and the attitude towards it is still controversial.

Drinks prepared on its basis do not have a very favorable effect on the body, but at the same time they are present on the table of every festive feast.

Terrible stories of how people fell ill from ethyl alcohol poisoning, lost their hearing, sight, and even died, are not fiction, they really happened and can happen in our time.

To avoid negative consequences and protect your body from intoxication, you need to understand the nature of the origin of the substance ethanol, its main components.

In contact with

Ethanol and methanol

The consequences of drinking alcohol and its impact on human health depends on the type and amount of alcohol consumed.

In addition to ethyl alcohol, there is methyl and isopropyl - powerful poisons that affect the nervous system, lungs and many other vital human organs. In case of poisoning with these substances, it is important to promptly provide first aid, otherwise death is inevitable.

In addition, methanol and ethanol are identical in physical properties (taste, color and smell). It is quite difficult to distinguish them from each other at home.

Note: You can test ethyl or technical alcohol in front of you by igniting it. Ethyl burns with a blue flame, methyl with green.

In principle, methanol should not be freely sold in stores, it is used only for industrial needs, but there are different cases. Alcohol for food purposes can be found in pharmacies or wineries.

Do not buy dubious liquid. Ask the seller where you purchased it. Drinking alcohol of unknown origin is very dangerous.

Application in medicine

There is an opinion that medical alcohol must be 95-96 percent strength, but this is not so.

Most often it is 70 degrees and is intended for external use and disinfection. In medicine, absolute alcohol and solutions are used: 95%, 90%, 70%, 40%.

Ethyl alcohol may be given in small doses by mouth to patients who are malnourished. In addition, it has a stimulating effect on respiration and blood circulation and is part of many modern medicines. Based on ethanol, various medicinal tinctures are also made.

Other types

Alpha alcohol and luxury alcohol are used to make luxury drinks and the price for it is quite high. They are the highest quality product among alcohols.

Lower in quality and price is alcohol "Basis" and "Extra". On their basis, vodka products are also made, but at a price they are lower than the previous two types.

Note: the varieties of alcohols listed below are not intended for ingestion and if you drink them, you are guaranteed to be poisoned, up to death.

Ant tincture is used in pharmacology as an antiseptic. Theoretically, it can be drunk, but it is primarily used for medical purposes and does not have the same degree of purification as spirits for the production of vodka.

Technical alcohols are not intended for consumption, they contain dangerous components that lead to poisoning. Used only in enterprises.

Hydrolytic alcohol, unlike other alcohols, is made from sawdust and woodworking waste. It can only be used for technical needs. When taken orally, it causes severe poisoning. It can be recognized by its characteristic salty aftertaste or chemical bitterness.

Cetyl alcohol is used only in cosmetology. It has a high fat content. Although it is the most gentle for the human body, it will not work to drink it even with a strong desire.

Salicylic alcohol is made from salicylic acid and ethyl alcohol. First of all, it is used for medical purposes for the treatment of the skin in various diseases. It is also used in cosmetology, for example, salicylic alcohol is included in chemical peeling. May cause poisoning if taken orally.

Aviation alcohol, as the name implies, is used in the operation of aircraft. You can’t drink it, because of the high content of metals, death from poisoning occurs very quickly.

Fortress

Alcohol has the highest strength - up to 96 percent. But, alcoholic beverages with a strength of more than 50 percent cannot be drunk in its pure form.

Firstly, it destroys the neurons of the brain, and secondly, it hits the liver very hard. Also, if you drink strong alcohol undiluted, you can get a burn of the larynx and esophagus.

Alcohol tinctures sold in pharmacies are made on the basis of 95 percent alcohol, but they are not intended to be consumed by glasses. Although some use them as a cheap substitute for alcohol.

How to drink safely

By itself, ethyl alcohol does not carry such irreparable harm to the body as methyl alcohol. Almost all alcoholic beverages are made on its basis, and are also used for medical purposes. But still, the use of ethanol in its pure form can have unpleasant consequences.

The safest way is to dilute alcohol with water. This will lower the strength and its use will have no consequences, except for a hangover and the usual side effects that appear, for example, after vodka.

It's important to know: alcohol can be diluted with juice, compote or soda.

Also, on its basis, you can make homemade tinctures and liqueurs. Drinking it in its pure form is highly discouraged.

Is it possible to harm health

As already mentioned, ethanol alcohol is considered food grade and is used to make medicines or alcohol. It can cause harm in the same way as ordinary alcohol. If you drink a large amount, drink undiluted.

The fact is that the greater the strength of the drink, the greater the load on the liver, so if you drink undiluted ethanol, intoxication will be quick, and in the morning there will be a severe hangover and other effects of alcohol poisoning. You can also burn the larynx and esophagus.

The body of each person individually reacts to alcohol, so follow the measure. Ethyl alcohol is not advisable to drink in large doses on an empty stomach. Try to drink slowly and in small sips.

From the intake of ethyl alcohol, in addition to the liver, the nervous system suffers greatly: the perception of the surrounding reality changes, speech becomes unrelated, vision and hearing deteriorate.

Poisoning

The dose of ethyl alcohol that leads to death is 6-8 ml per kilogram of body weight.

The lethal concentration of ethyl alcohol is 4-5 g/l or more. Therefore, the greater the body weight, the greater the chance of surviving when taking a large dose.

Signs of alcohol poisoning:

• labored breathing;
• nausea;
• blueing of the skin;
• decrease in body temperature;
• convulsions;
• dehydration;
• muscle relaxation;
• loss or confusion of consciousness.

Take note: Frequent drinking in large doses causes addiction and alcoholism.

If you abuse ethyl alcohol (as, indeed, any other alcoholic beverage), a fatal outcome may occur.

How to choose

If the use of ethyl alcohol in moderation and in diluted form is not very harmful to health, then the use of methyl or isopropyl alcohol almost always leads to death.

And although they are prohibited for free sale and the manufacture of food products, counterfeit alcohol is often made on its basis.

Therefore, do not buy alcoholic beverages in dubious places, especially from hands. It is better to buy more expensive, but in a normal, specialized wine store or, in extreme cases, in a pharmacy.

If you still decide to buy, then before using, check whether ethyl alcohol is in front of you - set it on fire and follow the color of the chase.

For more information on the effects of drinking alcohol, see the following video:

Cases of methanol poisoning, which is found in cheap antifreeze liquids sold on the roadsides, are on the rise. According to Rospotrebnadzor, more than 1.2 thousand acute methyl alcohol poisonings were registered last year, of which 880 were fatal. Even harmful fumes in an unventilated car can cause damage to health. The 360 ​​TV channel tells how to recognize a dangerous fake and what are the alternatives to purchased liquids.

Permitted Composition

Today, most winter automotive fluids are based on isopropyl alcohol, less often ethyl alcohol, since it is more expensive. It also contains propylene glycols and ethylene glycols. Well, and water, fragrances, dyes.

The use of ethanol in windshield wipers is hampered by licensing difficulties and high excises. The main productions of isopropyl alcohol in Russia are located in Orsk and Dzerzhinsk.

In search of cheapness and even greater benefits, unscrupulous manufacturers replace the permitted component with harmful, and sometimes deadly, methyl alcohol, or methanol. It is several times cheaper than ethyl and even isopropyl.

poisonous liquid

It is enough to inhale dangerous vapors of methanol, and headache, nausea, lacrimation and even vision problems are provided. Blindness is caused by only 5-10 grams of methyl alcohol that has entered the body. In addition to damage to the optic nerve and retina, it has a devastating effect on the nervous and vascular systems.

Methanol is especially dangerous when ingested. Because of it, hypoxia, renal failure and cerebral edema develop. Patients die in almost half of the cases. In the Moscow region this year, cases of fatal poisoning with “non-freezing” have already been recorded.

How to recognize a fake

To recognize a dangerous liquid, craftsmen advise two simple ways. First: use a lighter to heat the copper wire and lower it into the liquid. If you smell vinegar, then methyl alcohol is present.

Second: pour soda into the solution - methanol will dissolve it, and isopropyl alcohol will precipitate. If there is no soda at hand, it is enough to sniff the liquid: isopropyl has a characteristic pungent smell of acetone, and methanol does not smell of anything.

Judging by the label

Experts advise, first of all, to look at the price. A real non-freezing liquid cannot cost less than 150 rubles. Good, from a well-known manufacturer, and at all - 500 rubles. Ask the seller for product certificates, carefully examine the packaging: the label should be of more or less high quality, and the expiration date should not be printed, but stamped. In a word, no one sells such goods on the sidelines.

home laboratory

If you trust yourself more than any labels, you can do it yourself. You will need household alcohol-based glass cleaner and distilled water, which are mixed in a 1:2 ratio. Perfect for 20-25 degrees below zero.

This method guarantees you the safety of the liquid, because you yourself determine its composition, but does not provide tangible benefits. Consider for yourself: a good liquid with a volume of 500 milliliters costs around 100 rubles, for five liters of “non-freezing” you will need 1750 milliliters. Total - 350 rubles.

Approximately the same costs a certified product at a gas station. True, there is still a way to save: mix 70% ethyl alcohol and four liters of water. The price per liter is 150 rubles. It will take only 200 milliliters. You can fill it like that, but then you have to put up with the pungent smell of acetone. If you add fragrances in the form of washing powders or liquid soap, then the difference with purchased liquids is almost erased.

You can, of course, do it the old fashioned way: pour vodka or ordinary medical alcohol diluted with water, but this is not the cheapest option, given that a bottle of vodka costs 200 rubles. And there is always a risk of misunderstanding with the traffic police. It will not be so easy to explain that you inhaled the vapors of a home-made alcohol “anti-freeze” product.