Wood Alcohol Poisoning: An Era Gone By

Brenda F. Johnson, MSN

In 1907 three men were found dead, their bodies forever frozen in clenched, distorted positions that depicted their harrowing deaths from wood alcohol. The archived article, "Wood Alcohol Kills Three - Gruesome Discovery by a Scaler in a Tie Camp up the Rainy", from the Britt Community Historical Society tells of the deaths.

"A table in the center of the room on which stood the three tin cups, in each of which was a spoon, bore mute testimony that the men had been indulging in a toddy made of the poisonous fluid and had died simultaneously".

The Virginia based camp was where ties were made for the railroad. Little did the three hard working men know that their bootleg was so deadly.

A.S. Blumgarten, M.D., F.A.C.P. in his book A Textbook of Medicine written in 1930 tells nurses how to identify the symptoms and subsequently treat wood alcohol poisoning. At first the person appears drunk, staggering and talkative then progresses to nausea, vomiting and delirium. If they drink large amounts, death is within a few hours. Poisoning can also occur with repeated applications of witch hazel tonic to the hair. If they survive the poisoning, or drink wood alcohol on a regular basis, the poison will cause damage to the optic nerve leading to blindness.

It would have been difficult for nurses to discern whether their patient suffered from wood alcohol poisoning or were merely intoxicated. The nurses would need to ask the patient very specific questions regarding what type of alcohol they had been drinking and where they got it, while watching for more serious symptoms. Immediate treatment would be necessary. According to Blumgarten, the treatment for acute wood alcohol poisoning is washing of the stomach by colon irrigations, stimulants, and respiratory support. I'm not sure about you, but I don't believe the gastric washings were very effective if they went the rectal approach. That is a long way for an irrigation to travel.

In some areas, wood alcohol was readily available. For example, in Pennsylvania during the 1800s and 1950s there were more than seventy wood alcohol plants where they made and produced the toxic substance. According to the article, "Wood Chemical Plants", by Thomas T. Tabor III, the plants converted wood logs into methanol, acetate of lime, charcoal, or acetic acid. Wood alcohol and methyl alcohol are interchangeable terms. Heat is used to convert the wood to charcoal without oxygen present which increases the temperature and drives off other chemicals . "According to Tabor, "At 400 degrees an exothermic reaction occurs which raises the temperature to 600 degrees with no added external heat". The smoke becomes poisonous and the finished product is then sold to iron producers. So we can see the connection of the railroad to the tie camps to the wood alcohol.

Methyl alcohol or wood alcohol is still used in products we use every day, according to Medline in their article called "Methanol Poisoning". Fuel additives such as octane boosters, shellac, antifreeze, canned heating sources, varnish, and paint remover are some of the products that contain methyl alcohol. If swallowed, the chemical attacks the breathing first, followed by blurred vision. Blood pressure drops as convulsions begin along with headache and severe gastrointestinal symptoms. The final step is coma or death.

Nurse awareness that such a reaction can occur from methyl alcohol exposure may save a life, especially young children who play in cupboards. Knowing how to respond and what treatment is needed could mean the difference between life and death. Modern treatment includes dialysis, breathing support (ventilator), and gastric lavage along with the reversal agent - ethanol. To demonstrate how deadly this chemical is, just two tablespoons can kill a child and two to eight oz. can kill an adult according to Medline. Medline adamantly states that if such a product is swallowed, do not make the person throw up. Go to the nearest emergency room and call poison control - 1-800-222-1222.

Old nursing textbooks give us a window into the past regarding wood alcohol poisoning. Bootleg alcohol was the culprit for nurses in the late 1800s and early 1900s, and now it's varnish and paint remover.

Blumgarten once again gives us an idea of how nursing was different all those years ago. Treatment has improved tremendously for wood alcohol poisoning. No longer do we lavage the colon to cleanse the stomach, rather we lavage the stomach directly. Being able to give a reversal agent and administer dialysis has also improved patient mortality.

I hope you enjoyed this "Era Gone By" article, if so check out the others. If you have treated someone with wood alcohol poisoning, tell us about it!

References

Blumgarten,A.S., M.D., F.A.C.P. A Textbook of Medicine. New York: The Macmillan Company, 1930. Print.

"Methanol Poisoning". Medlineplus Trusted Health Information for You: U.S. National Library of Medicine, National Institute of Health.. 23 Mar. 2015. Web.

Tabor, Thomas T. "Wood Chemical Plants". Logging Railroad Era of Lumbering in Pennsylvania book 7, 1975. 23 Mar, 2015. Web.

Wood Alcohol Poisoning: An Era Gone By

About Brenda F. Johnson, MSN

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