this post was submitted on 22 Nov 2024
325 points (98.5% liked)

World News

39102 readers
2853 users here now

A community for discussing events around the World

Rules:

Similarly, if you see posts along these lines, do not engage. Report them, block them, and live a happier life than they do. We see too many slapfights that boil down to "Mom! He's bugging me!" and "I'm not touching you!" Going forward, slapfights will result in removed comments and temp bans to cool off.

We ask that the users report any comment or post that violate the rules, to use critical thinking when reading, posting or commenting. Users that post off-topic spam, advocate violence, have multiple comments or posts removed, weaponize reports or violate the code of conduct will be banned.

All posts and comments will be reviewed on a case-by-case basis. This means that some content that violates the rules may be allowed, while other content that does not violate the rules may be removed. The moderators retain the right to remove any content and ban users.


Lemmy World Partners

News !news@lemmy.world

Politics !politics@lemmy.world

World Politics !globalpolitics@lemmy.world


Recommendations

For Firefox users, there is media bias / propaganda / fact check plugin.

https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/media-bias-fact-check/

founded 1 year ago
MODERATORS
 

Summary

Holly Bowles, a 19-year-old Australian, has become the sixth foreign tourist to die from suspected methanol poisoning in Laos.

She and her friend Bianca Jones fell ill in Vang Vieng, a popular backpacking town, after reportedly consuming tainted alcohol, which can be lethal even in small amounts.

Other victims include a British lawyer, an American man, and two Danish women. Methanol, often found in bootleg or home-distilled alcohol, is believed to be the cause.

Authorities are investigating, with the manager of the hostel where free shots were served detained for questioning.

you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments
[–] Hawk@lemmy.dbzer0.com 13 points 1 day ago (3 children)

Homemade alcohol being deadly because of methanol is a myth. If you just look at what ingredients you put it, it's clear the amount of methanol is too small to be deadly.

This is almost always someone cutting their booze with cheap methanol.

[–] irotsoma@lemmy.world 3 points 20 hours ago (1 children)

That's true for beers, wines, etc., but not for liquor, which is what I mentioned. Liquor being anything that is distilled.

[–] Hawk@lemmy.dbzer0.com -1 points 18 hours ago

Distillation does not magically add methanol. If you simply look at the ingredients, it's fairly clear that it would be very hard to ferment a deadly amount of ethanol.

Maybe if they added tons of wood and leaves and used high pectine fruits? I guess it's a possibility, but still seems unlikely.

[–] potpotato@lemmy.world 5 points 1 day ago (1 children)

For fermented drinks, yeah, but not necessarily true for distillates.

[–] Hawk@lemmy.dbzer0.com -1 points 22 hours ago (2 children)

Not sure what you're talking about, distillates are distilled fermented drinks, the methanol content doesn't magically change.

You can't get more methanol by distilling. Yes it'll be more concentrated, unless you're throwing a ton of leaves and wood, I'm not sure where any significant amount would come from. I think possibly high pectine fruits could prove dangerous, but not sure about that.

[–] potpotato@lemmy.world 2 points 18 hours ago (1 children)

The concentration is the problem.

[–] Hawk@lemmy.dbzer0.com 0 points 17 hours ago

It shouldn't be, the amount should still be pretty insignificant...

[–] RunawayFixer@lemmy.world 8 points 1 day ago

Except when it isn't. If the price of the locally fermented alcohol is lower than the price of imported methanol (not every country has a chemical industry and some of those countries have a really low GNP), then it's just not going to be the case. And since there have been methanol contaminations in such countries, we know with certainty that it isn't always caused by adding methanol.

Some scientists heard the same argument (that it was added methanol), thought that wouldn't always make sense and then did some research: https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC5028366/

"This study assessed some traditional fermented beverages and found that some beverages are prone to methanol contamination including cachaca, cholai, agave, arak, plum and grape wines."