Asymptomatic blood methanol in emergency room patients

Over a four-month period, methanol was found in the blood of 18 patients among 687 sequential emergency room admissions screened for alcohols by gas chromatography. In the patients with positive results, blood ethanol ranged from 6 to 570 mg/dL (1.3-123.7 mmol/L), blood methanol from 2.3 to 4.0 mg/dL (0.72-1.25 mmol/L). Methanol exposure during preparation of the sampling site or in the course of specimen handling, ingestion of denatured alcohol, as well as methanol production from the metabolism of aspartame are ruled out as causes for these findings. The authors conclude that endogenous methanol production is the probable major cause, while methanol as a fermentation congener may be a contributory minor cause.