please read and help

[23anx]

Hey. I honestly don't know where to begin and I'm not 100% sure if I'm not the right type of site. I'm a 23 year old male and for around 3 or 4 years I have had anxiety be it minor or how it is right now, major. What I get it over has changed. To start with, I remember it being over family members dying and then it progressed. Last year, during the summer, I didn't seem to have any problems at all. In september I met my current girlfriend who I'm now living with. And this is where this current phase started. I remember seeing on the news that someone had been poisoned with Methanol and that they had gone blind. Ever since then, I have been worried about this happening to myself. I have only left the house 4 or so times in the past 2 months due to the substance being in a number of things car related and as you know, cars are everywhere. I don't know what I am expecting from posting this, maybe stats or facts but this is the first time I have ever expressed how I feel. Please help, Regards

[Robbed]

Methanol is actually the simplest of alcohols. Unlike the more common ethanol, it is made not from fermentation, but synthetically from natural gas. Since it is clean burning and has a high octane rating, it has been used as an alternative fuel. However, it has actually fallen out of favor for this use. It has been replaced by ethanol, which can be made from vegetable sources, such as corn and sugarcane (and which DOESN'T cause blindness). Methanol is sometimes also used in cleaning solvents, such as carburetor cleaners (typically in combination with acetone and toulene). But you're not likely to drink this. And it dissipates VERY quickly. As for human toxicity, it can cause blindness. However, it must be consumed in sufficient quantities. Only about 10cc needs to be ingested to cause blindness. And around 30cc will kill. But the typical exposure resulting from, say, getting a little on your skin or inhaling a little is MUCH, MUCH, MUCH less than this. And, of course, if it was used as a solvent to clean a car part, it wouldn't stick around long (methanol evaporates rapidly). So there is really nothing to worry about unless you are either drinking it or coming in contact with large amounts of it. And I'm guessing that you're not doing either of these things.

[23anx]

Thank you for your reply.

Over here in the UK, it is used in de-icer and screenwash which are my main concerns to be honest. Do you know the treatment, if any, for someone who has consumed some?

Sorry for all the questions but I'm a nervous wreck!

Thanks again.


Methanol is actually the simplest of alcohols. Unlike the more common ethanol, it is made not from fermentation, but synthetically from natural gas. Since it is clean burning and has a high octane rating, it has been used as an alternative fuel. However, it has actually fallen out of favor for this use. It has been replaced by ethanol, which can be made from vegetable sources, such as corn and sugarcane (and which DOESN'T cause blindness). Methanol is sometimes also used in cleaning solvents, such as carburetor cleaners (typically in combination with acetone and toulene). But you're not likely to drink this. And it dissipates VERY quickly. As for human toxicity, it can cause blindness. However, it must be consumed in sufficient quantities. Only about 10cc needs to be ingested to cause blindness. And around 30cc will kill. But the typical exposure resulting from, say, getting a little on your skin or inhaling a little is MUCH, MUCH, MUCH less than this. And, of course, if it was used as a solvent to clean a car part, it wouldn't stick around long (methanol evaporates rapidly). So there is really nothing to worry about unless you are either drinking it or coming in contact with large amounts of it. And I'm guessing that you're not doing either of these things.

t

[j2005]

If you haven't drank it, then let it go my friend; its the fear that is driving this not the reality

You're okay.

Go outside; the air is better than inside.

--james

[Robbed]

Over here in the UK, it is used in de-icer and screenwash which are my main concerns to be honest. Do you know the treatment, if any, for someone who has consumed some?

I am sure that there are probably quite a few treatments out there for ethanol poisoning. But I am not sure about all of them. You could probably find out about them on wikipedia (or somewhere else). I DO know that one 'classic' treatment for methanol poisoning is actually to drink ethanol! Yes, that's right. If you accidently consume methanol for any reason, it is best to have some vodka (or other alcoholic drink). You see, the body converts methanol into formaldehyde by means of an enzyme called alcohol dehydrogenase. This formaldehyde is then converted into formate, which does the damage. Alcohol dehydrogenase converts ethanol into acetaldehyde. Unlike formaldehyde (which is converted to formate), acetaldehyde causes nothing more than hangovers. And if you consume ethanol after consuming methanol, the ethanol basically 'overloads' alcohol dehydrogenase, which prevents methanol from being converted into foraldehyde. This allows most of the methanol to be harmlessly excreted as methanol itself, while only a very small amount is converted into formaldehyde. Now I think there may be other drugs out there that inhibit alcohol dehydrogenase to block conversion of methanol to formaldehyde. But I am not sure what they are.