Dozens Dead in Siberia from Drinking Bath Oil: How Methanol Kills

Authorities in Irkutsk, the sixth-largest city in Russia, declared a state of emergency today (Dec. 19) after at least 49 people died from drinking the apparently mislabeled bath oil, according to the Washington Post. The label on the bath oil said it contained ethanol, and people drank the product as a cheap alternative to alcohol, which is a common practice in Russia, the Post reported. When people consume methanol, the body metabolizes it first into formaldehyde, and then into a compound call