[Vwdiesel] Vwdiesel Digest, Vol 38, Issue 50

[James Hansen]

> accumulate.  Also, the old tale of drinking ethanol (beer, whiskey, etc) to
> counteract the effects of a methanol exposure is an effective method.

That's not an old tale, it's the treatment.
You come into the hospital with methanol poisoning, you get shot full of 
grain alcohol to prevent the accumulation of formaldehyde, the byproduct 
of methanol metabolization, which kills your retinas, kidneys, etc....

I was present when we had a bunch of kids come in that stole "copier 
fluid" and had a very short party. (I'm also an x-ray tech in my other life)

The dehydrogenase in your liver that breaks down alcohols in your body 
have a higher affinity for ethanol, so it binds to that, keeping the 
methanol present in the blood, where it eventually is excreted by the 
kidneys.
-james