What Is the Treatment for Isopropyl Alcohol Ingestion?

It seems a lot of people are confusing Isopropyl alcohol with Methanol alcohol. Basically, there are three main types of alcohol.

Ethanol is the type people drink. Isopropyl alcohol is not recommended for drinking but is only about twice as toxic as Ethanol.

Methanol is what causes blindness and is very toxic even in tiny doses and should not be consumed, even in tiny amounts.

@TreeMan - I'm not a doctor or chemist or anything, but I was curious about the same thing, so I looked it up. As we've already established, isopropyl alcohol is a different structure from ethyl alcohol. Apparently, isopropyl is much more reactive with certain cells in our body. Once the alcohol enters our liver, it starts to break it down.

In the case of ethyl alcohol, our livers turn it into something that is easily removed from our body. With isopropyl, the chemicals that are formed can actually eat away at our bodies. Like someone else mentioned, it can even cause blindness in some cases.

I also read that isopropyl alcohol is often called wood alcohol, since that is what makes it in nature. Ethyl is usually called grain alcohol. I guess that explains why we never ferment trees for alcohol. I'm sure someone figured that out the hard way, though.

@kentuckycat and @JimmyT - The strength of the alcohol would also play a big role. Usually, I think what is sold at the store is called 70 isopropyl alcohol meaning that it is 70% alcohol by volume. I have also seen extremely strong 99 isopropyl alcohol that you can buy at most pharmacies.

Think about that in the context of ethyl alcohol that you can drink. The average liquor is usually only 60% alcohol. That's not to say you can't drink nearly 100% ethyl alcohol, but it's not common.

I'm still not familiar with the pathways that the alcohol would take once it enters your body, though. If anyone has got any information on that, I would definitely be interested to hear it.

@kentuckycat - The word alcohol is just a term chemists use to describe a certain string of carbon, oxygen, and hydrogen that forms in certain cases. The arrangement of the elements and any other elements that join onto the molecule determines the actual kind of alcohol that is formed. Another of the common types of alcohol is methyl alcohol.

The amount of isopropyl alcohol you drink before you have any problems is a lot like other poisons. It all depends on your body size, metabolism, and other neutralizing factors that might be present. I have read that normally something like 6 ounces is when you really start to have problems. That's about a cup and a half. You can still have issues before 6 ounces, but the alcohol might just make you very sick, not cause permanent damage or death.

I had no idea there were so many bad things that could come from drinking isopropyl alcohol. What is so difficult about isopropyl alcohol as compared to ethyl alcohol that you can safely drink (in most cases)? Shouldn't alcohol have the same effects in any situation?

If you do end up drinking isopropyl alcohol, how much do you have to drink before it is really dangerous? Also, what exactly are the processes that happen inside your body that make it dangerous?

Now that I am thinking about it, how do they even go about making isopropyl alcohol? Is it something that has to be created in a lab, or do things in nature make isopropyl alcohol?

@ceilingcat - Well, you can tell kids stuff all you want, but sometimes they just don't listen! That's why it's a good idea to store stuff that could be poisonous out of reach of little grabby hands! This includes 70 isopropyl alcohol as well as cleaning supplies, pesticides, and gardening supplies.

Anyway, I had no idea that ingesting rubbing alcohol could cause such serious symptoms. I thought drinking rubbing alcohol would be like drinking a lot of any other alcohol, and might give you alcohol poisoning. I had no idea it could kill you, or result in the need to kidney dialysis! Very scary.

I don't have any kids, so I don't really worry about storing my isopropyl alcohol disinfectant in a cabinet where it's easy to reach. I've never even thought about how unsafe it might be if there are children around.

I have a few friends who bring their kids over to my house sometimes, so I think I'm going to re-evaluate where I store my rubbing alcohol. I would hate for anyone to come over to my house and then have a medical emergency because the rubbing alcohol was too easy to get to.

Also, parents should definitely make it clear to their kids that stuff in the medicine cabinet or cleaning supply area isn't for drinking!

@fify - I agree. It seems like ingestion of isopropyl alcohol can result in some pretty serious consequences. And treatment seems to be on a case by case basis too! So I think professional help is probably necessary for possible isopropyl alcohol poisoning.

I would probably just call 911 instead of calling poison control. I know poison control can give situation based advice, but they can't examine you over the phone. For something like this, I think seeing a doctor in person is probably the best idea. Plus, if it's a really serious emergency, calling poison control might waste valuable time.

@burcinc-- I personally think that the only recommendations in this situation should be made by a medical expert or someone from the poison control center.

I believe it's not good to vomit, unless a doctor or nurse says to do so. I've also heard that it's good to drink milk and water right after rubbing alcohol ingestion. Protecting the stomach is one reason, and trying to get it out of the system as soon as possible might be the other.

But this treatment probably depends on how much you drank. If you drank a lot, I highly doubt that drinking milk and water will help much. So it's not a good idea to stay home after drinking isopropyl alcohol because you've had milk. I would personally have milk on my way out the door to the ER or while waiting for the ambulance.

It's best to get checked out by a doctor even if you've had a little bit. You just never know what might happen. Isopropyl alcohol causes gastrointestinal problems in the least, and organ failure and death in worst cases.

@alisha-- I hear all sorts of crazy stories about this too, from my friend who is a 911 dispatcher.

I learned recently that a lot of things have isopropyl alcohol in them, like hand sanitizers, nail polish remover and first aid antiseptic solutions. So kids and pets can ingest it pretty easily if parents don't keep a close eye on them.

I've heard about drinking milk in case of accidental ingestion too, to reduce effects of isopropyl alcohol on the stomach. But aside from protecting the stomach, does milk help in any other way in this situation?

What about vomiting? Is it good for people to try to vomit if they realize they swallowed isopropyl alcohol?

My mom works in the ER and she mentioned several times that ingesting rubbing alcohol is really dangerous. She has seen many people come into the ER because of it and some of them almost died, one did die from it.

She also said that the treatment depends on the type of isopropyl alcohol. Apparently, there is one type which also has ethanol in it which can cause blindness. In fact, some manufacturers put these chemicals in it on purpose to prevent people from drinking it for alcohol purposes.

Shockingly, there are people with alcohol problems who can consume things like rubbing alcohol and perfume if they can't get a hold of any alcohol.

But since most people won't know which other ingredients and chemicals are in there, it's always best to get isopropyl alcohol poisoning treatment at the hospital. And as far as I know, if there is dizziness, nausea, vomiting or headache- poisoning has already taken place. Call 911!