so i just watched a video of someone chug a bottle of rubbing alcohol that you would get from the pharmacy. its still alcohol though so like why is it bad. also what likely happened to the guy who chugged the bottle?
In: Chemistry
People were literally dying from doing this during the quarantine in 2020. It’s WAY too much alcohol, don’t do it!!
I’m familiar with isopropyl alcohol 70% and the thought of drinking it is making me feel sick and want to vomit.
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(This answer is for anyone finding this thread through a Google search.)
I see this question as a good opportunity to teach redditors what to do in case you suspect a poisoning. Let’s start with the assumption that we saw someone drink a bottle of isopropyl alcohol and we don’t know what to do.
Firstly, if you or anyone you know has ingested isopropyl alcohol or any other kind of alcohol not bought from a liquor store, immediately call your local poison control number, or emergency number, for advice. It could be life-threatening.
As mentioned above, your first go-to for poisonings should be your local poison control or emergency numbers, but you will also want to find the substance’s Material Safety Data Sheet (MSDS). Here’s an MSDS for isopropyl alcohol: [https://rsc.aux.eng.ufl.edu/_files/msds/2/Isopropyl%20Alcohol.pdf](https://rsc.aux.eng.ufl.edu/_files/msds/2/Isopropyl%20Alcohol.pdf).
In there, you can find the most likely effects of various kinds of exposure to isopropyl alcohol and first aid instructions. In particular, it includes the LD50 doses for oral ingestion of isopropyl alcohol. An LD50 number aims to tell you approximately how much consumption results in a 50% chance of death. These numbers are almost always determined for animals like rats, since we obviously don’t do experiments with humans where we give them different doses of the substance and see how many die.
The MSDS says the LD50 in rats is as low as 90mL per kg of body weight. You can extrapolate that to estimate how much dose it would take to have a 50% chance of killing a human, by multiplying 90mL by their body weight in kg, but keep in mind that simple formula might not be valid because rats are different from humans, and a 50% chance of death is still unacceptable.
**The first aid instructions given are to give 2-4 cupfulls of milk or water, this will dilute the isopropyl alcohol and slow its absorption into the body until medical treatment can be sought. In this case, poison control will likely advise you to get the patient to the ER, depending on the amount consumed and their bodyweight.**
I’ll let others explain the chemical definition of what an “alcohol” is and why some are more dangerous than others, but I wanted to get this answer in here for anyone finding this through google! In particular, you should know your local poison control’s phone number and know to look for the MSDS.
So you get rapid intoxication, the isopropyl is converted to acetone which is a strong central nervous system depressant. You will feel sick and have a headache. You’ll get most of the negative effects of being very drunk with few of the positives.
Drinking it is a medical emergency and requires medical attention. It won’t kill you but you will need treatment to help rehydrate you.
Chugging a whole bottle is gonna fuck up your stomach lining, get you drunk to the point of puking and generally be a bad time.
Hello, I did actually consume rubbing alcohol once upon a time when I was a child. It was in a unlabeled water bottle (don’t ask) so I wasn’t paying attention as I’d just woken up. Immediately, it feels like your throat is on fire, everything is burning pain and I ran into the bathroom choking and coughing. One of the worst pains of my life because I had no way of getting rid of it. After about maybe half an hour, my mom rushed me to the hospital and they gave me a weeks(?) Worth of pills to take.
Didn’t have any stomach pains or anything which was probably due to only having the small amount down before spitting it out but never again! I also actively avoid alcohol because I don’t like reliving the burning feeling.
Your body converts most of it to acetone. Which is the main ingredient in nail polish remover.
It’s going to make you very sick, but it is rarely fatal if the person gets medical treatment. Without medical treatment drinking an entire bottle might be fatal.
The early symptoms are similar to the effects of regular alcohol (ethanol), but it’s more potent. The patient will feel very, very drunk, and also hungover almost immediately, with a severe headache. Bleeding of the stomach is a common symptom. so the person may vomit blood and will definitely have severe abdominal pain.
if you drink enough, it can cause slowed breathing, and a dangerous drop in blood pressure, causing the person to go into shock. But those can usually be handled by a hospital. The patient may need to be on a respirator for a while, but they should survive.
You’ll get very ill, but the lethal dose is surprisingly high (like 5g/kg) so a full grown adult would have to drink over 400g (14oz) to actually likely die from it. Still don’t recommend it
I once got shit in my mouth and decided to use isopropyl alcohol to clean out my mouth. I took a large swig and immediately started coughing, swallowed some, couldn’t breathe, and started shitting and vomiting like it was food poisoning.
Lesson learned. No isopropyl alcohol near my mouth.
You get intoxicated, and start throwing up. Soon, you are puking up blood too.
Seriously, it will make you misserable as hell, maybe even need to be admitted to the hospital, but probably will not kill you.
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