this post was submitted on 08 Mar 2025
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Do It Yourself

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DIY methanol detector for drinks (discuss.tchncs.de)
submitted 4 months ago by Rolive@discuss.tchncs.de to c/diy@beehaw.org
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We are going to Vietnam this year for holiday and I've read horror stories of poorly distilled alcohol in cocktails and such. Several tourists have died from methanol poisoning.

Would it be feasible to build a small detector for methanol? I'm okay with either a small chemical identification test or something like an IR spectrum analysis.

There are commercial test kits for professional laboratories but I need something affordable for regular consumers.

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[–] Rolive@discuss.tchncs.de 2 points 4 months ago (1 children)

Thank you, that's a very detailed response. I'll probably just refrain from drinking cocktails unless I know it's safe to do so.

[–] philpo@feddit.org 1 points 4 months ago

You're welcome.

The main recommendation I have, though: Enjoy it.

Southeast Asia is fun and especially if you make an effort to meet the people "in their world" it's quite an experience.

Recommendation: (mooommm,grandpa is talking about the war again) Stay away from other Westerners,even Backpackers for a time. It helps. Personally I had great experiences with couchsurfing but that was before the site was turned to shit and you could use it to meet locals simply for a drink. Had some really memorable experiences that way.

(And again: Get travel insurance, I literally have another young lad's case who ruined his life both healthwise but also financially on my desk at the moment)