‘Killer’ lambanog positive for methanol

THE police during an inspection of a lambanog store. AL PADILLA

The lambanog that killed 11 people and made dozens of others ill in Laguna tested positive for high levels of the toxic methanol, tests by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) confirmed on Wednesday.

Five of the seven samples of lambanog, a locally distilled liquor, were found to contain 11.4 to 18.2 percent of methanol. The samples were bought from three lambanog stores.

The methanol finding corroborate the clinical and lab results on the fatalities and the other patients, FDA officer-in-charge Eric Domingo said, adding 1 percent of methanol is already toxic.

The FDA official said as little as 30ML of methanol can kill a person even as absorption through the skin may also damage the liver as it turns into formic acid.

Methanol is a by-product of distillation and high levels of the chemical in liquor are blamed on faulty distillation procedures.