What is methanol poisoning? Australian teenagers fight for lives in Thai hospital

Two Australian teenage girls are warring for their lives successful a Thai infirmary aft allegedly being poisoned with methanol portion successful neighbouring Laos.

Melbourne’s Bianca Jones and Holly Bowles, some 19, were connected a “dream getaway” travelling done Asia erstwhile the incidental occurred.

The brace were staying astatine a hostel successful the municipality of Vang Vieng erstwhile they became earnestly sick past week. Their families person flown to Thailand to beryllium by the teenagers' bedside.

“This is each parent’s nightmare and we privation to guarantee nary different household is forced to endure the anguish we are going through,” Jones’s parents told the Herald Sun.

“We anticipation the authorities tin get to the bottommost of what happened arsenic soon arsenic possible.”

In 2022, a 38-year-old British woman, Kirsty McKie, died successful Bali — 2 days aft consuming a beverage containing methanol. She believed this to beryllium alcoholic.

But what is methanol poisoning and what are the symptoms?

Methanol, besides known arsenic methyl intoxicant oregon wood alcohol, is simply a highly toxic, colourless, and volatile liquid. It is the simplest intoxicant successful the chemic group, with the look CH₃OH. Methanol is commonly utilized as:

Like ethanol, it is simply a signifier of intoxicant that is odourless and flammable. While it whitethorn odor similar ethanol — which is what we devour successful alcoholic beverages — the 2 are not the same. Unlike ethanol, it is not harmless for quality consumption.

Professor David Ranson, a prof of forensic medicine astatine Monash University, told Australia’s ABC News that methanol is simply a “very, precise nasty compound”.

He added: “These compounds really onslaught organs of the assemblage and really termination cells.”

He said erstwhile methanol enters the quality body, our enzymes crook it into formaldehyde and formic acid, causing toxicity.

Typically, radical acquisition methanol poisoning erstwhile the liquid is ingested successful drinks.

Often it is illegally added to alcoholic beverages, whereas different times it tin beryllium utilized successful drinks alternatively of ethanol due to the fact that it is cheaper.

Cases of methanol poisoning person been recorded successful respective Southeast Asian tourer hotpots including Indonesia, Thailand, Cambodia and Bali.

Vomiting, abdominal symptom and nausea are each communal symptoms of methanol poisoning. Others see a nonaccomplishment of coordination and a decreased consciousness of vision.

Someone who has been exposed to methanol tin participate a authorities of terrible metabolic acidosis — meaning excessively overmuch acerb has built up successful the body. This tin pb to them falling unconscious and adjacent entering a coma.

Yes, methanol poisoning tin beryllium fatal if not treated properly. The UK authorities says, if ingested, 4 to 10 millilitres of methanol tin origin imperishable harm (including imperishable imaginativeness loss) to adults.

The minimal lethal dose is considered to beryllium successful the scope of 300 to 1,000mg/kg.

Smartraveller, the Australian government’s question proposal service, said tourists should beryllium “alert to the imaginable risks, peculiarly with spirit-based drinks including cocktails”.

It said travellers should debar homemade drinks and portion lone astatine reputable venues.