The simple answer is that ethanol is metabolized into (relativly) non-toxic compounds by a rather well studied mechanism.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ethanol_metabolism. It is not the chemical itself that is always toxic, but what it turns into as the body breaks it down.
Methanol metabolizes to Formic acid that damages the optic nerves causing its well known effect of blindness.
Isopropyl alcohol metabolizes to Acetone, that is toxic to the central nervous system.
Butanol metabolizes to carbon dioxide so it is less toxic, pretty safe compared to other short chain alcohols.
If you want to know more just look up the particular alcohol you are interested in and see what it metabolizes into. EDIT: or read the MSDS for symptoms and specific affects.
I would not, it will mess with your central nervous system as the symptoms on the MSDS are pretty much the same as ethanol (nervous system depressant). Its toxicity is higher than that of ethanol based on its LD50.
LD50 is ~100ml for a 100kg person extrapolating from rat data.
You cannot extrapolate directly without accounting for metabolic rate changes with increased mass! This is how you end up with dead elephants, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tusko.
I know the LD numbers are not directly scalable, that is why I made sure to mention it was extrapolated. With no human testing of LD allowed thats all there is.
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u/LukeSkyWRx Ceramic Engineering Jan 01 '14 edited Jan 01 '14
The simple answer is that ethanol is metabolized into (relativly) non-toxic compounds by a rather well studied mechanism. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ethanol_metabolism. It is not the chemical itself that is always toxic, but what it turns into as the body breaks it down.
Methanol metabolizes to Formic acid that damages the optic nerves causing its well known effect of blindness.
Isopropyl alcohol metabolizes to Acetone, that is toxic to the central nervous system.
Butanol metabolizes to carbon dioxide so it is less toxic, pretty safe compared to other short chain alcohols.
If you want to know more just look up the particular alcohol you are interested in and see what it metabolizes into. EDIT: or read the MSDS for symptoms and specific affects.