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Any chemists here? ETOH alternative question.
Xobyte
Registered User regular
Registered User regular
I work in an alcohol and drug treatment facility. A few weeks ago, a coworker of mine was discussing how he'd come across a chemical shorthand similar to ETOH. But where ETOH signifies ethanol alcohol meant for consumption, this abbreviation was used to signify alcohols not intended for consumption. Whether this specified methylated alcohols, or simply non-toxic yet non-consumables such as hand sanitizer/mouthwash was not clear.
I've spent some time on Google, but I'm having difficulty coming up with the proper search terms. I thought some actual chemists might know the answer.
I've spent some time on Google, but I'm having difficulty coming up with the proper search terms. I thought some actual chemists might know the answer.
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IPA might be it. I don't see why methanol or methanol-containing alcohols would be in a drug treatment facility, the stuff is really poisonous. But isopropyl alcohol has more everyday uses.
Says Who?
It's only bad because most pure-ish ethanol sold commercially has additional chemicals (methanol, butyl alcohol, toluene, etc) that are very very toxic in order to make them not drinkable.
It's perfectly possible to buy pure, 95-100% ethanol (though 100% is much harder to make and thus more expensive than 95%), it's a bit harder to find for consumption use but we buy it all the time for research purposes (you use ethanol in lots of lab protocols, and we can't have that extra crap in it).
It's actually ridiculously cheap for research purposes because there's no sin tax. Like I sometimes buy 100% pure ethanol for like $15 dollars a gallon from sigma.
having Anhydrous Ethanol (>96%) Isn't something I would suggest ingesting pure. Although I do enjoy the visit customs gives me every-year to make sure I'm not violating my license.
That disclaimer is only there so they don't get sued for alcohol poisoning. There's nothing inherently more toxic in Everclear than in any other liquor. The only difference is the concentration makes it easier to overdose.
Anhydrous ethanol has either methanol or isopropyl alochol as the trace 2-4%. For Everclear, that 5% is water.
That is not a trivial difference.
For general public purchase, yes; however, that's not necessarily true - see http://www.sigmaaldrich.com/catalog/product/sial/459836?lang=en®ion=US
Also @Jebus314, your prices from sigma are better than ours apparently (by a lot, 1L is ~$90)
It's not that we have these substances in our facility. The question was more just to satisfy a curiosity, and if necessary provide more specificity on client charting when appropriate. We deal primarily, though not exclusively, with the homeless population. As such, it's extremely common to see people come in after consuming anything cheap or free or easy to steal. This includes mouthwash, hand sanitizer and cologne to cooking sherry and vanilla extract. I even had one client come in after consuming Lysol for the tiny bit of alcohol it contains.
I doubt IPA is the shorthand my coworker was thinking of, due to it being extremely specific as to which type of alcohol. R-OH sounds like it may fit the bill though. I'll mention it to him next time we work together, and see if that's what he was remembering.