Is synthetic alcohol safe?

With a debate raging over whether synthetic alcohol could replace the real thing soon, we take a look at the science behind it to determine whether it is actually safe for consumption.

Late last month it emerged that the UK’s former chief drugs officer Professor David Nutt believed that a synthetic alcohol being produced could replace the real thing by 2050.

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Nutt claimed that he had already patented around 90 compounds in order to produce Alcosynth, which is the synthetic that allegedly mimics the effects of alcohol while reducing the risk of waking up with a hangover.

Two of the compounds used, which are in the valium family and made from a benzodiazepine derivative, and that when the synthetic alcohol is consumed, the body does not produce a compound called acetaldehyde, as it does when alcohol is consumed.

Scott Edwards, an assistant professor of physiology at the Louisiana State University Health Sciences Center’s Alcohol and Drug Abuse Center of Excellence, explains to Live Science that when acetaldehyde is drunk it metabolises in the body, and where a standard alcoholic drink would contain just a few milligrams of alcohol, a person would consume only a few milligrams of alcosynth, thus leading to the question of whether people could become dependent, or even overdose on it.

The lack of acetaldehyde is being attributed towards alcosynth’s hangover-free qualities, and that its ability to mimic the neurotransmitter GABA in the brain will lead people to use it with much more freedom than alcohol. An increase in GABA traditionally leads to less anxiety, but Edwards has warned that ‘messing with the system’ could lead to “significant impairment of judgment and motor function, with all the associated sociological and legal consequences.”

And with Alcosyth already being billed as a “drink all you want” substance before it has even been released, it would need to undergo rigourous safety testing before it can even be considered for public consumption.

Edwards also points towards the introduction of e-cigarettes as a similar example of a product aimed at improving people’s lifestyles despite the full effects on health not being understood.

“One of the most dangerous aspects of any ingested substance — from fashionable street drugs to e-cigarettes — is not knowing exactly what chemicals are contained in the final formulation,” he said.

Though while most people will be excited about the prospect of being able to drink more but with fewer consequences, Edwards rounded off his summation by pointing to one, less obvious benefit by saying: “Hangover and other withdrawal symptoms are not simply a nuisance, but can contribute to lost work and school productivity, and thereby produce further socioeconomic consequences over time.”

This means that those who attempt to dull their hangover symptoms with more drinking may be allowed to snap themselves out of a vicious cycle.