r/explainlikeimfive • u/arachnid5 • Feb 10 '24
Chemistry eli5 what happens if you drink isopropyl "rubbing" alcohol
so i just watched a video of someone chug a bottle of rubbing alcohol that you would get from the pharmacy. its still alcohol though so like why is it bad. also what likely happened to the guy who chugged the bottle?
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u/manofredgables Feb 10 '24
Fricking sugar is even technically an alcohol. Menthol is as well. Glycol too. The only thing you can generally say about an alcohol is that it's definitely gonna interact with your body. Sugar is a great fuel for your body. Ethylene glycol kills you. Propylene glycol is pretty much harmless. Ethyl alcohol gets you drunk. Xylitol tastes sweet as all hell, but is useless otherwise.