"Over 90 Killed in India by Toxic Homemade Liquor" read the headline in The New York Times on Feb. 23, 2019. In fact, such outbreaks are quite common with thousands of victims each year. However, no inexpensive and fast point-of-care method exists for diagnosis of methanol intoxication or screening of laced alcoholic beverages to rapidly respond or even prevent such disasters. Currently, methanol poisoning is detected directly through blood analysis by gas chromatography or indirectly through blood gas analysis. However, both require trained personnel, are expensive and rarely available in developing countries where most outbreaks occur. Blood methanol levels can also be determined non-invasively in exhaled breath, analogous to ethanol as widely applied by law enforcement. However, current chemical sensors cannot distinguish methanol from the much higher ethanol background.
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