Institutt for laboratoriemedisin, barne- og kvinnesykdommer, Norges teknisk-naturvitenskapelige universitet og Avdeling for klinisk farmakologi, St. Olavs hospital, Olav Kyrres gate 17, 7006 Trondheim, Norway. lars.slordal@ntnu.no
BACKGROUND: At the turn of 2007/2008, four Norwegian men died after ingestion of commercially available supposedly denatured ethanol. MATERIAL AND METHODS: The four deaths are presented and discussed. RESULTS: Methanol concentrations, consistent with lethal methanol poisoning, were detected in blood and urine for all four. The imbibed mixture was subsequently shown to contain a 70/30 mixture of methanol/ethanol. INTERPRETATION: The events emphasize the importance of investigating methanol findings from deceased to identify the source, and that investigations are instigated promptly to prevent further exposure.