Methanol (also called methyl alcohol and wood spirit, amongst other names) is an ORGANIC chemical and the simplest aliphatic alcohol. It's a naturally occurring substance on this earth. This accident does nothing more than simply put back into nature what was taken from it.
Small amounts of methanol are present in normal, healthy human individuals. One study found a mean of 4.5 ppm in the exhaled breath of test subjects. The mean endogenous methanol in humans of 0.45 g/d may be metabolized from pectin found in fruit; one kilogram of apple produces up to 1.4 g of pectin (0.6 g of methanol.)
The Ohio River as a whole is ALREADY ranked as the most polluted river in the United States, based on 2009 and 2010 data.
But even 1,400 tons of methanol would be quickly dispersed in the Ohio river as its long-term mean discharge rate is 281,500 cu ft/s, the most turbulent and fastest in the nation.
Knowing the FACTS it seems that this is a big old nothing burger in the larger scheme of things. Just more fear-mongering.
'Toxic Methanol'?
Methanol (also called methyl alcohol and wood spirit, amongst other names) is an ORGANIC chemical and the simplest aliphatic alcohol. It's a naturally occurring substance on this earth. This accident does nothing more than simply put back into nature what was taken from it.
Small amounts of methanol are present in normal, healthy human individuals. One study found a mean of 4.5 ppm in the exhaled breath of test subjects. The mean endogenous methanol in humans of 0.45 g/d may be metabolized from pectin found in fruit; one kilogram of apple produces up to 1.4 g of pectin (0.6 g of methanol.)
The Ohio River as a whole is ALREADY ranked as the most polluted river in the United States, based on 2009 and 2010 data.
But even 1,400 tons of methanol would be quickly dispersed in the Ohio river as its long-term mean discharge rate is 281,500 cu ft/s, the most turbulent and fastest in the nation.
Knowing the FACTS it seems that this is a big old nothing burger in the larger scheme of things. Just more fear-mongering.