Analysis of methanol content in fake alcoholic beverages during a methanol mass poisoning outbreak (Bojnourd- Northeast of Iran, 2018)

摘要

Background: Consumption of non-commercial alcoholic drinks is the main cause of methanol poisoning in the world. Nonstandardizedproduction methods or deliberate spiking of methanol in non-commercial and homemade alcoholic beverages have beenreported, globally. The analysis of toxic alcohol contents in illegally produced alcohol beverages is necessary for prevention and earlydiagnosis of methanol poisoning especially during alcohol mass poisoning episodes. In this study, we analyzed methanol, ethanol andhigher alcohols content in seized illegal alcoholic beverages during methanol mass poisoning outbreak in Bojnourd City (northeast ofIran) in 2018.Method: During the methanol mass poisoning outbreak in Bojnourd city (northeast of Iran), happened in one –month period fromSeptember 22 to October 22, 2018, samples of all illegal alcoholic beverages either found consumed by poisoned patients who admittedto the hospitals or seized by the law enforcement were analyzed. Qualitative and quantitative analysis of ethanol, methanol, 1-propanol,2-propanol and acetone were performed using GC-FID method.Results: In the samples collected from a total of 116 seized illegally produced alcohol beverages; methanol was detected in 39.6%with mean concentration of 77.6 %v/v and the range from 12 to 97% v/v. Ethanol was detected in 77 (66.4%) samples with meanconcentration of 32.3%v/v. Only 8 (6.9%) samples had a mixture of ethanol and methanol. 1-propanol, 2-propanol and acetone werenot detected in any samples.Conclusion: Methanol is the main toxic chemical component in illegal alcoholic beverages with toxic level and could be consideredas a cause of mass poisoning during the alcohol mass poisoning in Bojnourd City. This finding could be considered in planning andimplementing of public health measures in Iran.