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From: slb@drutx.UUCP (Sue Brezden)
Newsgroups: net.med
Subject: Re: methanol in booze
Message-ID: <372@drutx.UUCP>
Date: Mon, 27-Jan-86 11:45:44 EST
Article-I.D.: drutx.372
Posted: Mon Jan 27 11:45:44 1986
Date-Received: Tue, 28-Jan-86 06:05:50 EST
Organization: AT&T Information Systems Laboratories, Denver
Lines: 26

>> 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.
>
>	It sounds to me like the blindness was caused by heavy metal poisoning,
>and not methanol.  In particular, lead poisoning has been a problem with
>"moonshine" for many years, and bootleg whiskey made during Prohibition.
>The lead was introduced through solder used in the distillation apparatus.

Another way you can get heavy metals in moonshine is by using a 
car radiator for the coils of the still.  This used to be done 
fairly often.  It's an easy way to make a still--but very dangerous.
-- 

                                     Sue Brezden
                                     ihnp4!drutx!slb

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
      To search for perfection is all very well,
      But to look for heaven is to live here in hell.   
                                       --Sting
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