Teen and woman who drank tainted alcohol in Laos have died, bringing toll to 5
apnews.com
Details on the alcohol poisoning began trickling out about a week after the two Australian women fell ill on Nov. 13 following a night out drinking with a group in the remote town.

An Australian teenager has died after drinking tainted alcohol in Laos in what Australia’s prime minister on Thursday called every parent’s nightmare. An American and two Danish tourists also died, officials said, following reports that several people had been sickened in a Laotian town popular with backpackers.

  • Sludgehammer@lemmy.worldEnglish
    1·
    3 days ago

    Industrial ethanol? It is still just ethanol. It is not more poisonous because it is “industrial”.

    By industrial alcohol, I meant ethanol intended for industrial purposes. And while it’s just as safe as alcohol intended for human consumption it’s usually much cheaper.

    Finally, what is denatured alcohol even supposed to mean? Proteins can denature, but they are complex molecules. Alcohol cannot denature.

    I looked in your profile and noticed some comments in German, so I guess this is how I find out “denatured alcohol” is a US centric term. In the United States denatured alcohol is a term for a high concentration ethanol mixed with enough methanol to make it poisonous (and maybe a few other things to make it even more unpalatable). It’s usually used for fuel or a solvent. Just throw “denatured alcohol” into the search engine of your choice and it should spit out a few examples.