Toddler dies in China from methanol poisoning

A two year old boy from Dongguan city in Guangdong province has died after his parents wiped methylated spirits on his skin in an attempt to cool down his fever.

Denatured alcohol or methylated spirits is often used for industrial purposes such as intensive cleaning

As reported in the Chinese Mainland newspaper, New Express Daily and the SCMP in Hong Kong, the little boy lost consciousness after having up to 1000ml of alcohol applied to his armpits by his well-meaning parents who were trying to reduce his body temperature while he had a fever.

Although he was taken to hospital, he later died due to methanol poisoning.

“When [the parents] arrived at the hospital, they did not know it was the alcohol that had caused this; they thought it was the fever that had made the child lose consciousness,” said Ma Weike, a doctor at Shenzhen Children’s Hospital.

The parents both work in a factory where they have access to large quantities of denatured alcohol which has a methyl concentration of at least 95 per cent and is easily absorbed by the skin causing nerve damage, confirmed the reports.