The following sections of this BookRags Literature Study Guide is offprint from Gale's For Students Series: Presenting Analysis, Context, and Criticism on Commonly Studied Works: Introduction, Author Biography, Plot Summary, Characters, Themes, Style, Historical Context, Critical Overview, Criticism and Critical Essays, Media Adaptations, Topics for Further Study, Compare & Contrast, What Do I Read Next?, For Further Study, and Sources.
(c)1998-2002; (c)2002 by Gale. Gale is an imprint of The Gale Group, Inc., a division of Thomson Learning, Inc. Gale and Design and Thomson Learning are trademarks used herein under license.
The following sections, if they exist, are offprint from Beacham's Encyclopedia of Popular Fiction: "Social Concerns", "Thematic Overview", "Techniques", "Literary Precedents", "Key Questions", "Related Titles", "Adaptations", "Related Web Sites". (c)1994-2005, by Walton Beacham.
The following sections, if they exist, are offprint from Beacham's Guide to Literature for Young Adults: "About the Author", "Overview", "Setting", "Literary Qualities", "Social Sensitivity", "Topics for Discussion", "Ideas for Reports and Papers". (c)1994-2005, by Walton Beacham.
All other sections in this Literature Study Guide are owned and copyrighted by BookRags, Inc.
Methanol is the simplest alcohol, containing only one carbon atom, four hydrogen atoms, and one oxygen atom (CH 3OH). It is also called methyl alcohol, WOOD ALCOHOL, carbinol, wood naphtha, wood spirit, pyroxylic spirit, and pyroligneous alcohol or spirit. It is a flammable, potentially toxic, mobile liquid, used as an industrial solvent, in antifreeze, and in chemical manufacture. Ingestion may result in severe acidosis, visual impairment, and other effects on the central nervous system. Methanol does not produce significant inebriation unless a very large amount is consumed.
Methanol itself is not toxic, but it is metabolized by enzymes in the body to create formaldehyde and formic acid—both of which are very toxic substances. The formic acid can cause blindness. Ethanol (ethyl alcohol—drinking alcohol) can be used as an antidote for methanol poisoning, because it competes with the methanol for the enzyme. As a result, there is a delay of formaldehyde and formic acid production, and these toxic substances do not rise to such high levels. Although methanol is frequently added to ethanol-based cleaning solutions, its addition denatures the solution and makes it unsafe to drink. Only desperate alcoholics will drink methanol, but it is sometimes drunk by accident by people experimenting with various alcohol substitutes.
C SÁKY, T. Z., & BARNES, B. A. (1984). Cutting's handbook of pharmacology, 7th ed. Norwalk, CT: Appleton-Century-Crofts.
PERRY, J. H. (1990). Methanol: Bridge to a renewable energy future. Lanham, MD: University Press of America.