The alcohol we drink is just one particular kind of alcohol: ethanol. The others can be a lot more dangerous, and in the 1920s, the US government made a really dangerous cocktail.
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A special thank you to Dr. Richard Sachleben for his insights into the chemistry of distilling.
Sources:
https://www.theguardian.com/film/2012/aug/26/lawless-prohibition-gangsters-speakeasies
https://lcb.wa.gov/publications/IndAlcoholinfosheet.pdf
http://www.slate.com/articles/health_and_science/medical_examiner/2010/02/the_chemists_war.html
https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/government-poison-10000-americans/
http://content.time.com/time/specials/packages/article/0,28804,1864521_1864524_1864626,00.html
https://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/poison-alcohol-prohibition
https://www.popularmechanics.com/home/how-to/a7569/how-distilling-works/
https://www.livescience.com/23305-bootleg-liquor-methanol.html
https://toxnet.nlm.nih.gov/cgi-bin/sis/search/a?dbs+hsdb:@term+@DOCNO+1646
https://www.cdc.gov/niosh/ershdb/emergencyresponsecard_29750029.html
https://pubchem.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/compound/formic_acid#section=Top
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/1665561
https://www.nytimes.com/1930/12/11/archives/new-denaturant-without-any-poison-found-for-alcohol-petroleum.html
https://www.ecfr.gov/cgi-bin/text-idx?c=ecfr&sid=f7866313787bfcfb2b9cd25ba6af81b5&rgn=div5&view=text&node=27:1.0.1.1.17&idno=27#sp27.1.21.d
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