Liquor vs Liquor – What’s the difference?
Liquor (a) Alcohol is obtained by steeping and fermenting raw materials, then distilling, evaporating, collecting drop by drop by steam, and then filtering.
In breweries it is prepared based on studies with certain methods. Counterfeit liquor is brewed in pots, tin drums etc. without any restrictions.
Chemicals added to both
Both types of liquor contain added chemicals for intoxication.
Ethanol is added to alcohol produced in distilleries. The ethanol is then detoxified at various stages in the plants and packaged for drinking only after it has been certified by chemists as non-hazardous.
But in case of counterfeit liquor, no verification is done. A chemical called methanol is added to it to increase its smell, taste and intoxication. This is what causes the worst effects.
How much risk is there at what level?
Just 100 ml of methanol mixed with alcohol can kill within 12 hours.
That means a tin of beer or a third of a packet of alcohol can be fatal.
How can death occur when drinking fake alcohol?
Usually when we drink alcohol our intestines stop all other work and do the work of digesting the alcohol first.
That’s what starts happening when you drink this fake liquor. When trying to digest it, the methanol in it splits into formaldehyde and then turns into toxic formic acid.
This formic acid inhibits the COX enzymes present in the mitochondria, the nucleus of billions of cells in the human body.
As a result, the production of ATP, which is necessary for cell survival, is blocked and the mitochondria become completely inactive. This causes immediate death.
What other dangers does methanol cause?
Methanol in the lye is converted to formic acid, which first inactivates the mitochondria.
In addition, this formic acid lowers the pH of the blood, making the blood more acidic.
The body of people who drink alcohol will try to get rid of excess carbon dioxide in the blood to reduce the acidity of the blood.
This causes shortness of breath within a few hours and problems with contraction and expansion of the heart muscles. Due to this, the oxygen going to the brain decreases and brain death occurs and takes away the life.
Even if the person who drank this methanol-laced bootleg liquor is lucky enough to survive, the formic acid in the blood can cut off the optic nerve and block the signal to the brain. Due to this, eye sight will also be lost permanently.
Drinking just 10 ml can cause permanent blindness. It’s rare. Often fatal.
Deaths due to counterfeiting in India
According to data from the National Crime Records Bureau, more than a thousand people are said to die every year in India alone due to consumption of counterfeit liquor.
Last year 2021 alone, 782 people lost their lives due to drinking fake liquor.
Data indicates that the death toll is highest in the states of Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh and Bihar. It is said that people between the ages of 30-40 are the most likely to die.
At present, the number of people who have become victims of consuming counterfeit liquor is increasing in Tamil Nadu as well.
