Quote:
Originally Posted by QGolden
ratamahata,
Thx for the article, I also like the short article on Antifreeze that appears after the Henry Ford story. My grandfather was the Mechanic for a School District with 8 Busses. This was in '32. They used Kerosine in the winter for Antifreeze. Although Prohibition was winding down they had problems with the Alcohol being stolen from the busses. Of course it was not Grain Alcohol so it would kill you or blind you.
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Ethanol, also called ethyl alcohol, pure alcohol, grain alcohol, or drinking alcohol, is a volatile, flammable, colorless liquid. A psychoactive drug and one of the oldest recreational drugs known, ethanol produces a state known as alcohol intoxication when consumed.
Methanol is the simplest alcohol, and is a light, volatile, colorless, flammable liquid with a distinctive odor very similar to, but slightly sweeter than, ethanol (drinking alcohol).[4] At room temperature, it is a polar liquid, and is used as an antifreeze, solvent, fuel, and as a denaturant for ethanol. It is also used for producing biodiesel via transesterification reaction.
Methanol ingested in large quantities is metabolized to formic acid or formate salts, which is poisonous to the central nervous system, and may cause blindness, coma, and death. Because of these toxic properties, methanol is frequently used as a denaturant additive for ethanol manufactured for industrial uses. This addition of methanol exempts industrial ethanol (commonly known as "denatured alcohol" or "methylated spirit") from liquor excise taxation.