Patiala, May 15 -- Preliminary investigations into the Amritsar hooch tragedy - that has claimed 23 lives over two days - have revealed that methanol, popularly known as methyl alcohol, was used in the production of spurious liquor. According to health experts, methanol used to brew alcohol is highly hazardous. They said consumption of even 60ml of methanol could cause death. According to experts, ethyl alcohol (extra neutral alcohol or ENA) that is used in conventional brewing of liquor and not the methyl alcohol. Forensic medicine expert Dr DS Bhullar, who is former president of the Punjab State Medical and Dental Teachers' association, said: "About 60 to 240ml of methyl alcohol would kill most adults, while as little as 15ml is known to cause blindness. Death typically occurs within 24 to 36 hours, depending on the amount consumed," Dr Bhullar said. Methyl alcohol (wood alcohol, wood spirit, wood naphtha, carbinol, or methanol) is a colourless liquid with a faint spirit-like odour and a burning nauseous taste, Dr Bhullar said, adding that it is used in industry for denaturing rectified spirit to render it non-drinkable. "Methyl alcohol is more toxic than ethyl alcohol, which is used in moderate amounts in hard drinks in conventional brewing. Since methyl is slowly excreted from the body, it acts as a cumulative poison," said Dr Bhullar. Around 60 litres of spurious liquor was distributed in different villages of the Majithia block in Amritsar, people familiar with the matter said. "The spurious liquor was distributed in packets of 2 litres costing Rs.20-30 each," said an official requesting anonymity. Dr RPS Sibia, who is head of the medicine department at Government Medical College, Patiala, said methyl alcohol gets converted into formaldehyde and formic acid during metabolism in the body which was highly toxic. "These end products - metabolites -are responsible for its toxic action. The symptoms correlate with the degree of acidosis. The symptoms may appear within an hour after ingestion, but are commonly delayed. Usually, people drink and sleep which makes the treatment even more difficult as people reach health centres between 12 and 24 hours of consuming spurious liquor, leaving room for only symptomatic treatment. If any individual reaches within three hours of consuming spurious liquor having methanol, there is a possibility of saving their lives," he added....