Vodka is poison

The fact that ethanol is a part of vodka, being its base and having the ability to dissolve in fats, is the basis for the development of alcoholic addiction and intoxication. It is due to the ability to dissolve in fats that ethyl alcohol is distributed throughout the body and is fixed in adipose tissues.

The likelihood of toxemia

Vodka has a confident leadership position among alcoholic beverages, being an accomplice of alcohol toxicosis.

This is due to the strength of the alcoholic beverage. If their strength is within 20-30 degrees, they are more slowly absorbed into the bloodstream.

They are gradually withdrawn outside, not accumulating and not lingering during alcoholic libation.

Guaranteed toxemia and death can be obtained by taking 300 milliliters of ethanol at a time. The liver cannot cope with such an amount of liquid to break it down into water and carbon dioxide in a timely manner, and remove it from the human body.

Causes of toxemia

A one-time high dose leads to poisoning

Among the reasons leading to vodka poisoning, it is possible to name the following:

• its systematic use;
• a one-time large dose;
• mixing with drugs incompatible in chemical content;
• predisposition to an allergic reaction to ethanol or its individual intolerance;
• drinking burned vodka.

Often counterfeit products of "Mendeleev's invention", in particular, fake vodka, claim a large number of lives. Allergies to alcohol have also increased in recent years.

An interesting fact is that the addiction of blood relatives to this alcoholic drink becomes a consequence of intolerance to vodka.

An important question is, can you get poisoned if you apply vodka externally? Can. This is due to the ability of alcohol to penetrate the skin into the body and accumulate there. Therefore, doctors do not recommend the treatment of dislocations, stretch marks and similar injuries in children using alcohol-based compresses.

Signs of toxemia

When starting a conversation about what symptoms will manifest in a person who has been poisoned with vodka, a number of factors should be taken into account: age, the amount of alcohol consumed, its quality, and sometimes the gender of the person taking it.

In case of mild poisoning, the following symptoms are observed:

• Hyperemia of the skin, excessive sweating. Speech becomes slurred, accompanied by intermittent intonations.
• Thoughts lose their consistency. There is a violation of the coordination of movements.
• Painful sensations in the abdomen. Often they are of a pulling and cutting nature. The reason for their occurrence is the irritating effect of alcohols on the gastrointestinal mucosa.
• Diarrhea. Almost always possible. It develops during the first hours. It is caused by a violation of the absorption capacity of the large intestine of water.
• Nausea and gag reflexes. The nature of their occurrence lies in the action of alcohols on the central nervous system. The brain similarly sends a signal to eliminate toxins from the body.

If the toxemia is more severe, then the main symptoms will be complemented by the following:

• Dizziness appears, accompanied by sharp headaches.
• Vomiting continues, which does not relieve the state of health. The victim is in a state of prostration. This phase is characterized by the phenomenon of "seasickness", when it shakes even in a lying state.
• The pulse decreases, breathing slows down, and becomes intermittent. Cold sweat appears, temperature decreases.
• Delusional ideas, hallucinations appear. The victim becomes depressed or euphoric.
• Urination becomes more frequent, becoming very profuse.

The most severe stage is characterized by the following symptoms:

• Complete absence of urination.
• Falling into a coma. Loss of consciousness. Lethal outcome is not excluded.

Many may confuse a coma with a drunken person's sleep. Therefore, it is the unconscious state, when the victim loses the ability to produce reflexive actions (in particular, tactile and protective), that is indicative in such a case.

In this case, a person has intermittent breathing, accompanied by wheezing and other unnatural sounds. Hyperemia of the skin is replaced by acidosis.

Surrogate products

Burned vodka is often the cause of intoxication. This is due to the fact that it is produced with the addition of various impurities based on methanol. After all, they reduce the cost of the production process.

Poisoning with fired vodka in terms of symptoms similar to those that are manifested in ordinary toxemia with alcohol. But the primary symptoms are much more dynamic. After taking one glass, symptoms of toxemia appear: dizziness, gag reflexes, confusion, pain in the abdomen, headaches, fog in the eyes.

Intoxication with surrogates is a very long-term process that reaches its peak 10-12 hours after drinking alcohol. Therefore, it is often confused with a hangover.

Standard signs indicating surrogate intoxication are as follows:

Loss of vision with toxemia surrogate

• general weakness;
• vomiting, accompanied by foamy discharge;
• loss of vision;
• confusion of consciousness;
• fainting;
• death.

Urgent care

Proper first aid is of great importance in the treatment of toxemia with alcoholic beverages. Because the manipulations must be prompt and timely.

Pre-medical actions

Except when the victim can be aware of his actions and actions, and confusion is not observed, you can do without medical help. Other situations require the help of professionals, because the patient's condition is associated with a risk to life.

First aid measures for a poisoned person consist of standard procedures:

In case of loss of consciousness - revive with ammonia

• Cleansing the stomach of toxins. For these purposes, you need to give a large amount of water to drink and provoke a gag reflex.
• Convenient position of the patient in a position on the side, in order to avoid choking with vomit.
• Cleansing the respiratory tract from the remains of vomit and saliva. This is done using a cotton swab and a syringe. In the event of a sinking of the tongue, you need to release it to ensure free access of oxygen.
• Give adsorbents. For these needs, activated carbon, polysorb, enterosgel, white coal have proven themselves well.
• If necessary - carrying out cardiopulmonary procedures (massage and artificial respiration).
• If the patient is unconscious, bring him to his senses by bringing a cotton or gauze swab soaked in ammonia to the nostrils.
• It is necessary to place the victim in a warm place.

To alleviate the condition of a person, you can prepare a drink consisting of 2 liters of water, where 7 teaspoons of honey are dissolved. This solution must be drunk in small sips, but quickly.

Treatment in the clinic

Further actions are performed in the hospital of the intensive care profile. They begin with gastric lavage using a flexible tube. Then additional absorbents will be prescribed.

Next, symptomatic therapy will be performed. Sodium bicarbonate saline will be administered intravenously. When diagnosing an overdose with methanol, an antidote will be prescribed - ethanol (in a therapeutic dosage).

Which is widespread in the Russian market today.

In order not to become a victim of counterfeiting and to avoid the sad consequences of using a surrogate, it is important to carefully approach the choice of a strong alcoholic drink and check whether it is a "palette".

What is Palenque

First of all, it is necessary to find out what "burned" alcohol is. This name is understood as fake alcohol of poor quality. Surrogate vodka is produced in clandestine industries that are not licensed for this type of activity.

People involved in the preparation of counterfeit alcoholic beverages do not follow either the recipe or the process technology. They use cheap, harmful materials to keep the cost of the product as low as possible and maximize their bottom line.

The most popular, simple and inexpensive way to produce a counterfeit is to replace high-quality ethyl alcohol with methanol or other technical alcohol that is not suitable for ingestion.

Another method is the use of low-grade ethanol, from which strong intoxication quickly sets in, and after a few hours, severe intoxication of the body develops.

Also, vodka is considered "fired", in the composition of which it is present. These substances are formed in the drink if the technology for preparing alcohol is not followed and the cleaning is not sufficiently thorough.

Another variant of "palenki" is vodka, highly diluted with water. It is less hazardous to health than drinks prepared by the methods described above, however, it is also considered a fake, since it does not meet quality standards and is always produced in underground organizations that violate the law. Officially licensed distilleries do not make such beverages.

How to identify burned vodka

There are several ways to identify fired vodka. First of all, you should pay attention to the appearance, taste and smell of the drink. Often a counterfeit product has a pungent, repulsive odor and an unpleasant taste, which is why vodka is drunk with great difficulty. It can also be less robust, which is always felt when consuming a surrogate.

Many fake types of this strong alcohol have a consistency that is very different from the original. Such drinks may be cloudy or have a slight tint of yellowness, which indicates the presence of harmful impurities in the alcohol-containing liquid. A typical sign of counterfeiting is the formation of sediment and small foreign particles inside the bottle.

If, after drinking even a small amount of vodka, strong intoxication quickly sets in, and the next day it is severe, this means that the drink turned out to be of poor quality. It is highly likely that it contains fusel oils or low grade ethanol.

Palenque signs to look out for in the store

It is possible to recognize a fake even at the stage of purchasing a product, if you take a responsible approach to the choice of a drink. When purchasing vodka in a store, you should pay attention to the following signs of falsification of strong alcohol:

1. Label. On counterfeit products, the label is often attached crookedly, and traces of glue are visible on the bottle. The adhesive stripes under the paper base are unevenly applied to the glass, which can be easily seen through the liquid.
2. Cork. On fake vodka, the cork does not fit evenly against the bottle, lets the alcohol through and scrolls.
3. Price. Quality alcohol cannot be cheap. If vodka is sold in one of the stores much cheaper than the same drink in other outlets, then there is a high probability that this is a fake.
4. Excise stamps on "fake" vodka are most often pale and indistinct, the golden stripe is drawn on them, and not made as a separate element, the hologram shines, but does not shimmer.
5. The inscriptions on the bottle. If the date and time of the filling on the label does not match the information on the cork, this indicates a counterfeit product.
6. Engraving. This sign can be noticed only by those who prefer to constantly purchase the same brand of vodka. Some large factories make embossed engravings on the bottles with various information about the drink and the manufacturer. It is impossible to counterfeit the engraving on glass, since this requires special equipment. If the bottle of a well-known drink does not have the usual inscriptions, this indicates falsification.

Home check

Counterfeit vodka and a high-quality original product can be distinguished at home using one or more proven folk methods:

1. Conflagration. It is necessary to pour the drink into a wide, low container (metal lid, spoon) and set it on fire. If the liquid lights up smoothly and burns with a small blue flame, there is no doubt about the high quality of alcohol. The absence of fire indicates the dilution of alcohol with water or the presence of fusel oils. A green flame is a sign of the use of methyl alcohol in the production of the beverage.
2. Freezing. Quality vodka never freezes completely, turning into a piece of ice. It only becomes thicker and more viscous. A counterfeit made in an artisanal way in violation of all the rules will quickly turn into ice.
3. Weighing. The weight of 1 liter of vodka (excluding containers) should be 953 g (an error of 2 g is allowed). If this figure differs significantly up or down, this may mean that the alcohol is diluted with water or has a lot of impurities in its composition.
4. Copper wire test. The copper rod must be very heated and immediately lowered into a container with vodka. If a strong smell of formalin appears immediately, this means that methyl alcohol is present in the drink.
5. Litmus test. If you dip the reagent strip in fake vodka, the paper will take on a red tint. Upon contact with high-quality alcohol, the color of the strip will remain unchanged.
6. Dissolving potassium permanganate. It is necessary to pour a small amount of vodka into a glass and try to dissolve several crystals of potassium permanganate in it. In a good quality product, potassium permanganate dissolves poorly and slowly, and dissolves almost immediately in counterfeit products.

Consequences of drinking fake vodka

Counterfeit vodka is extremely dangerous to the body. This is a poisonous substance that causes severe poisoning and disrupts the work of internal organs. Alcohol, which contains methyl alcohol, is especially harmful. Methanol damages the nervous system and can cause disability and death.

Fusel oils contained in low-quality vodka affect the liver, kidneys and brain and can lead to numerous deviations in the work of these organs. Long-term use of large doses of counterfeit provokes renal and hepatic failure, causes failure of the digestive system and can also cause death.

Recently, in the press and on the Internet, there have been more and more reports of the facts of poisoning with surrogate alcohol. Experts say that almost half of all vodka on sale is counterfeit. Drinking it ends in a severe headache at best. However, most people who are poisoned with such vodka become disabled. It happens that the poisoning ends in death.

It is not only chronic alcoholics who are poisoned with surrogate alcohol. The category of victims includes those who do not understand how to distinguish a fake from pure vodka. It should be noted that the producers of the surrogate are improving their "skill", but still there are signs that make it possible to determine the quality of vodka already in the store. What are they?

When buying vodka in a store, you need to be able to determine the quality of the drink so as not to purchase alcohol that is hazardous to health. It is advisable to learn how to recognize counterfeit before buying. In order to protect yourself from poisoning, several rules should be followed.

1. You cannot buy vodka anywhere. Stalls, small shops on the outskirts are ideal points for selling a surrogate. In supermarkets, large stores, customers are issued a check. They will not risk their reputation, since in case of poisoning, this check can be presented and prove the time and place of purchase of vodka.
2. Don't skimp on cheap vodka. If it costs much less than vodka of the same brand in other stores, then it is a fake. The seller may say that the goods came directly from the supplier, which is why they have such a low price. You can't trust him. It is possible that the seller does not know the origin of the vodka at all.
3. When buying alcohol, you should carefully examine the bottle. Official manufacturers create a specific degree of protection. What it should be, you can find out on specialized sites. When checking a bottle, pay attention to the cork. If it is scratched, then the bottle was closed by hand. In factories, this is done with special equipment.

Bottles with expensive vodka are laser-marked. The letters and numbers printed on them are created from black dots. They do not wipe off, do not leave marks on the fingers. Labels on dishes with expensive alcohol are glued exactly. Products from renowned manufacturers are protected by a hologram. The adhesive beads on the label are spaced equally spaced from each other. The paper is covered with a layer of varnish.

High-quality vodka is bottled on a conveyor, filling bottles to a certain level. If in the store there are bottles filled in different ways on the same shelf, it is better to refuse to buy it. Real alcohol is completely transparent. To test the vodka, you need to turn the bottle over and hold it for a few seconds. If streaks appeared on the glass, the color of the liquid changed, crystals became visible, the precipitate was burned vodka. If you shake the bottle vigorously, large bubbles are likely to go through it. In normal vodka, they will be shallow. But what if the vodka has already been bought? How to check it at home?

Determining the quality of alcohol at home

If the product has already been purchased, and its quality is in doubt, you can check the vodka at home. First of all, you need to pay attention to factors such as:

1. Smell. To determine the smell, a little vodka is poured into a glass, which is slightly warmed up in the hand. After that, the alcohol should be sniffed. Vodka must smell like alcohol! If there are other smells in it, this is a fake. The liquid can give off vinegar, fusel oils, chemicals. It is dangerous to drink it.
2. The weight. Half a liter of vodka without a bottle weighs about 480 grams. A liter has a mass of 960 grams. Accurate scales are needed to determine the gravity of vodka. But even with approximate weighing, these figures should not differ significantly.
3. Burning ability. To check, pour vodka into a small container and set it on fire. Good alcohol does not flash instantly and burns with a blue fire. If vodka does not catch fire at all, it is less than 40 degrees. Flash momentarily means there is foreign alcohol in the liquid. A green light indicates the presence of methanol. High-quality vodka, after the fire goes out, becomes a colorless liquid without sediment.
4. Cold check. In this case, the bottle must be placed in the freezer and left for two hours. High-quality vodka does not freeze, it just gets a little thicker.
5. Copper and acid test. Sulfuric acid helps to find out the presence of fusel oils. It is mixed with vodka in equal proportions. This makes the surrogate alcohol darker. Copper wire reacts to methyl alcohol. It is heated and dipped in a bottle of liquid. If the vodka contains methanol, it will smell of formalin. You cannot drink such alcohol! He's deadly.
6. Litmus and potassium permanganate. In some industries, sulfuric acid is added to vodka to increase its strength. If you put a litmus marker in such alcohol, it will turn red. Potassium permanganate dissolves slowly in high-quality vodka.
7. Excise stamp. Counterfeiters usually do not counterfeit stickers because it is expensive and troublesome. In supermarkets and large stores, the authenticity of the excise stamp is checked by a scanner. If the sticker is tampered with, it will immediately become clear.

Evaluating vodka to taste is a risky business. Poisonous methanol differs little from pure alcohol. Its use is very dangerous! Therefore, it is better to play it safe, buy vodka in specialized stores and check it before pouring it into the glasses. Otherwise, the feast can turn into a tragedy.

The Orenburg region entered the TOP of the anti-rating in terms of sales of counterfeit alcohol. The proximity of the Kazakh border and the availability of low-quality technical alcohol have led to a real surge in the supply of counterfeit alcohol. Moreover, cunning bootleggers stock up on "left" drinks in advance before the New Year holidays.

So, last week, operatives seized the largest batch of counterfeit alcohol in recent years - entrepreneurs specially stocked 27 thousand bottles of surrogate alcohol in order to sell at peak demand.

At the same time, in the past three weeks alone, 11 people have already become victims of burned alcohol. Four of them have died, the rest are in intensive care in serious condition. The police, Rospotrebnadzor, the Association of Operators of the Orenburg Alcohol Market warn - be careful when buying drinks for the New Year's table! Do not risk your life and the lives of your loved ones!

What are the signs that indicate "burned" vodka?

The cap rotates and does not fit snugly against the neck

The bottling date stamp on the label does not match the stamp on the cap

The label is crooked and the adhesive stripes are uneven

The label is dull, the font on it is erased, dim (although at present, the skill of counterfeiters has increased so much that this sign is not often met)

The liquid in the bottle has a yellowish or other colored sheen, or is unclear

Fake vodka often contains sediment, suspension, foreign microparticles float

Counterfeit vodka is less strong

2 - 3 weeks after opening the vodka acquires a matte color

How to understand that vodka is real?

· Pour vodka into a teaspoon and heat over a fire, and then set fire to the liquid. It should flare up. You need to let it burn out and smell. If it smells harsh and unpleasant, then the vodka contains fusel impurities or aldehyde.

· Turn the bottle upside down and shake. If large bubbles form, it means there is a lot of water in the vodka and it is of poor quality.

What should be on the label of real vodka?

The label of this vodka must contain the date of bottling, the name and address of the manufacturer, license number, certification mark, alcohol strength

How to recognize methyl alcohol poisoning?

· At first, methyl alcohol intoxicates, like regular regular vodka. But after 10-12 hours, signs of severe poisoning appear: nausea, headache, vomiting, weakness, visual impairment, pain in the whole body, blurred consciousness, fainting. Very often people cannot recognize methanol poisoning, as these symptoms can be mistaken for a hangover. If there are signs of poisoning, an ambulance should be called immediately.

However, it should be remembered that it is always easier to prevent a tragedy by refusing to buy an obviously cheap and "left" drink from under the floor than to deal with the consequences of a toxic blow to the body later!

Association of Operators of the Orenburg Alcohol Market

- Infographics Ekaterina GALUZINA

According to statistics, burned vodka is the leading cause of death from alcohol poisoning. This is explained by the fact that many alcoholics, as they become addicted to alcoholic beverages, reduce the requirements for the quality of alcohol. Moreover, many alcohol addicts do not have money for constant purchases of original products.

Also, the victims of poisoning can be people who are not particularly versed in alcoholic beverages, who purchased vodka at a retail outlet without checking the excise stamp and other signs that distinguish the original from a fake. That is why an uninformed person should not go shopping right away, but first, it is better to ask how to check the quality of vodka.

Of all the spirits, vodka is most often counterfeited. The answer to the question of why it is faked is simple: the recipe is simple, does not require special costs, and the product itself is popular, which gives an excellent opportunity to earn money.

The simplest method of falsification is to replace drinking ethyl alcohol with a cheaper, technical one, mainly methyl alcohol. In appearance, such a surrogate is also colorless and has a weaker odor.

Ethanol, although a poison for the body, but for fatal poisoning you need to drink a lot at a time, or drink alcohol in large quantities every day. In small doses, it is a doping for the immune system, while in large quantities it causes clouding of consciousness, dependence, and gradually destroys the work of internal organs.

It takes a little to get poisoned with methanol: it is the purest poison. A person, to go blind, needs only to drink thirty grams of methyl alcohol, to die - fifty. Naturally, in the sold surrogates, in addition to methanol, there is water that dilutes it, but no one will say how much alcohol it contains: when vodka is made in an artisanal way, they are not particularly worried about the correct observance of the proportions, and therefore they may well exceed the norm. Moreover, if an alcoholic dies of an overdose, his death will not be particularly investigated, except in cases when he belongs to a well-known family or it is beneficial to someone.

In addition to replacing ethyl alcohol with methanol, a swindler can use lower quality ethanol in the manufacture of a surrogate. In total, there are several varieties of this alcohol, and they are divided according to the degree of purification, as well as the raw materials that were used during its manufacture.

Other methods of falsification

In case of falsification, another situation is possible, when there is so much water in the drink that there is almost no alcohol. Another manipulation with water is that the manufacturer can dilute ethanol or methanol with a liquid that does not meet the requirements of the technology, that is, it will not be purified to the required degree.

The water for the manufacture of the original product is carefully prepared. It is softened, getting rid of unnecessary hardness (for example, cleaning with silver), in some cases, it is completely cleaned, then microelements are added. At the final stage, the finished product can be cleaned with milk powder. This helps to rid the vodka of impurities while preserving the taste and smell. The original products do not have a strong odor, and even more so that resembles acetone.

Some manufacturers may add additives to vodka to make their products stand out and influence the consumer's choice in their favor. These components affect the price increase, while it should be borne in mind that sometimes such a markup does not justify itself: in some cases, the task of such additives is to hide the poor quality of the product, the smell of acetone.

In addition, non-compliance with the recipe (for example, an insufficient amount of sugar was put in) is a falsification method. It is also possible to replace one substance with another (sugar for honey, if it is provided in the recipe, etc.).

What you need to know when buying

If earlier alcohol surrogates could be distinguished by cost, now the swindlers took this fact into account, and set a price equivalent to the original product, lowering it in price only by a fraction of a percent. Accordingly, the buyer, not seeing much of a difference, makes a choice in favor of a fake, believing that its lower price is due to the low markup of the store.

When buying, be sure to study the excise stamp, which must be present on the bottle. It is a quality mark that signals the authenticity of the product, says that the vodka is certified, made in accordance with all requirements and meets standards. To avoid counterfeiting, excise stamps have various degrees of protection, some of them can be determined by eye, others - only with the help of a special device. Despite all the degrees of protection, swindlers are capable of forging it too.

When studying an excise stamp, you should definitely pay attention to a thin strip, a security thread with an abbreviation. It does not have to be drawn: it can be pulled out in the original markings. The authenticity of vodka can be confirmed by a hologram on the excise stamp: it should not only shine, but also sparkle if you look at it from a certain angle.

You should carefully study the text: on a fake, the text is usually easily erased, looks blurry, while on the original products this is not. After touching the excise stamp, no paint should remain on the hands.

If at first glance everything is fine with the excise stamp, but there are doubts about the quality of the product, you can proceed to its external examination. Be sure to pay attention to the following symptoms, which will help to distinguish the authenticity of vodka:

• The cap of smoked vodka can twist and even leak, which is impossible when selling original products.
• A real bottle may include a safety cap, while a counterfeit often does not.
• In original products, the liquid level reaches the shoulders or to the middle of the neck; when counterfeiting products, this point is not always respected.
• Original products never leave sediment, while fakes often have it.
• The surrogate can have a hue, whereas the original vodka does not have it: it is colorless. To check, you can shake the bottle, if after that a sediment, lint or a cloudy color appears, you can safely return it to the shelf. Turbidity indicates that the water was poorly filtered or softened, or that there were deviations in technology during the purification of vodka.

Particular attention should be paid to labeling. The spill stamp must match on the label (can be on the outside or on the back, at the bottom of the bottle) and the cap. If the dates do not correspond or do not exist at all, the product is not worth buying. The label must indicate the plant where the products were produced, the city, the license, certificate number, and the strength of the vodka. On fakes, these data are often not available or they are submitted inaccurate.

The label on the original bottle must be glued evenly, adhere firmly, and there must be no traces of glue. Stickers on original products are usually bright and crisp, while those on a surrogate are usually dimmer.

If the bottle was bought, and upon opening it turned out that the vodka smells of acetone, you cannot drink: it contains either methanol, or the technology was violated during the manufacture. The product must be taken to the store and a refund requested.

Features of moonshine

When talking about fake vodka, moonshine cannot be ignored. This is the name for homemade vodka. True, the name "vodka" here is rather arbitrary, since the manufacturing technology is significantly different, and the recipe is observed only approximately.

Naturally, there is no question of any quality certificate for a product prepared at home. How well moonshine will be prepared depends largely on the skills and consciousness of the person who will make it. That is, it will do it for itself, or for sale. If the owner has properly prepared and distilled the drink (this must be done at least twice), there is no need to fear for the quality of the alcohol. Moreover, the pungent smell should not be embarrassing: this means that the owner did not add flavorings to the mash. But if the moonshine smells like acetone, it is better to refuse the drink: it is made of poor quality.

Another advantage of home-made moonshine is its cheapness compared to vodka. At the same time, a properly prepared product is no more harmful to health than vodka.... But if the owner violates the manufacturing technology, takes low-quality products, you can die.

In any case, many alcoholics, if they do not have the opportunity to purchase original products, prefer moonshine rather than a product of dubious quality that is sold in stores. Especially if they personally know the person who prepares it, and have an idea of ​​how conscientiously he makes the drink.