Deadly Screwdriver

Screwdrivers can be dangerous. Not only the ones used to tighten and remove screws, which can be lethal weapons, but the ones you get at your local bar. OJ and Vodka. Nice way to get hammered and up your vitamin C intake. Multitasking.

But Ramineh Behbehanian apparently has her own recipe. OJ and alcohol. Not vodka or even ethyl alcohol (ethanol–the kind you drink), but isopropyl alcohol (isopropanol–rubbing alcohol). It seems she whipped up a couple pf bottles of this concoction and placed them in the refrigerated section of her local Starbucks. Fortunately, someone observed her doing it and called the police.

Maybe this was simply a prank. Maybe she innocently thought isopropyl alcohol and ethyl alcohol were interchangeable. No harm, no foul. Maybe. Except she’s a pharmacist. She knows the difference.

So what is isopropyl alcohol and why is it dangerous?

From HOWDUNNIT: FORENSICS

Isopropanol

Isopropanol is also an intoxicant and a CNS depressant whose effects usually appear within ten to thirty minutes after ingestion, depending upon the amount consumed and whether food or other beverages are taken as well. Fifteen to 20 percent of ingested isopropanol is converted to acetone, which produces acidosis (excess acid in the body). This greatly complicates things. The victim appears drowsy and off balance, and possesses a staggering gait, slurred speech, and poor coordination. Nausea, vomiting (sometimes bloody), abdominal pain, sweating, stupor, coma, and death from respiratory depression may follow. Hemorrhage into the bronchial tubes (breathing tubes or airways) and chest cavity may occur.

Isopropanol also absorbs through the lungs and the skin. Not infrequently, infants experience isopropanol toxicity from alcohol-and-water sponge baths used to treat childhood fevers.

As they say: Don’t try this at home.