Six tourists who were staying at a youth hostel in Vang Vieng, Laos, have died of methanol poisoning. The methanol was believed to be in contaminated drinks.

Methanol – a colourless, tasteless liquid – is extremely toxic. As little as 60ml can be deadly – that’s less than a triple UK shot of alcohol (ethanol).

Methanol, unlike ethanol, is processed by our bodies to first form formaldehyde and then formic acid (formate). The body is unable to quickly clear large doses of formate and once formate is in our cells, it causes significant injury and death.

Formate gets into the mitochondria – the powerhouses of cells – causing them to become oxygen-depleted (hypoxia). Without oxygen, cells become damaged and die; this means all our important organs such as our brain, kidneys and liver stop working and this damage is often fatal, (nearly 45% in some cases) or leads to life-changing injuries.

The retina and the optical nerve are especially sensitive to methanol. Blindness (both partial........

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