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From: gt3191b@gitpyr.UUCP
Newsgroups: net.med,net.college
Subject: Re: Production of methanol: where?
Message-ID: <1296@gitpyr.UUCP>
Date: Sat, 25-Jan-86 21:14:06 EST
Article-I.D.: gitpyr.1296
Posted: Sat Jan 25 21:14:06 1986
Date-Received: Sun, 26-Jan-86 20:07:49 EST
References: <507@sdcc12.UUCP>
Reply-To: gt3191b@gitpyr.UUCP (McAllister,Daniel Grear)
Organization: Georgia Institute of Technology
Lines: 48
Keywords: Ethanol, Methanol poisoning, danger.
Xref: watmath net.med:3248 net.college:1015
Summary: Methanol accidentally from distilling Ethanol?  -- NOT likely!

>>     Regarding the current discussion of hangovers & methanol: I know
>> that alcoholic drinks containing methanol was a big problem during
>> the prohibition days.  What I am curious about was whether the
>> methanol was (and is) produced accidentally during fermentation (i.e.
>> is there any risk of methanol production during home wine making?), or
>> was the methanol added via some other pathway?
>
>It is my understanding that methanol can be produced accidentally 
>when something goes wrong with the fermentation.  This happened to
>some people in our village in Europe during the Second World War.
>As I remember it, methanol caused blindness, among other
>nasty things.  I also remember that these people had borrowed a
>zinc plated wash tub from my mother to hold the fermenting mash, and 
>when they brought it back, all the zinc had been eaten away on the
>inside of the tub, so that the rusting iron underneath was laid bare,
>ruining the tub.

I didn't think this sounded right, so ....
I decided to ask a CHE friend of mine, who looked it up in one of his
"magic books" and it seems that while the addition of zinc WAS very
dangerous, it must be subjected to high temperature AND pressure to
react with the carbon in the alcohol (to make methanol).  Much more
likely, your villiagers had problems with zinc poisoning (sp?) or,
like most of those who had problems with methanol poisoning during
prohibition, someone added the methanol (wood alcohol) at some point,
not knowing that it was poisinous. (Most probably, even by accident!)

By the way, the signs of methanol poisoning include blindness as well as
loss of motor control -- sounds like fun :-).  Unfortunately, according
to my CHE wizard, methanol is much easier to distill large quantities
than the ethanol that you and I fry our brain cells in on occations
(like sunset, or the power company making money!)

On a final (we can hope) note, it is SUPPOSED to be very difficult to
procure high purity, REAL grain alcohol (ethanol) in this country
due to federal regulation.  For this reason, I wouldn't reccommend
drinking ANY alcohol I got from a lab.  Stop drinking such cheap
liquor, and you'll be surprised at how much better you feel the morning
after!  :-)             thanx,
-- 
McAllister, Daniel G.                      1986:  Football    Basketball

PO Box 33191                               Tech      20           89
Georgia Insitute of Technology             UGa       16           65
Atlanta Georgia, 30332
                                               "SILENCE IS GOLDEN"

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