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What Is Alcohol Denat or Alcohol Denatured?

Denatured alcohol is ethanol that has been altered to include noxious and bitter-tasting chemicals. This makes it ill-suited for consumption and discourages its use as an intoxicant.

  1. Denatured Alcohol and Health Concerns

    • To make denatured alcohol, manufacturers add a chemical to ethanol to make it unsuitable for ingestion. Certain popular denaturants will make such products merely unpalatable, while others can cause blindness and death. Common additives include tertiary butyl alcohol, methanol, isopropanol or even gasoline.

    Uses for Denatured Alcohol

    • Specially denatured spirits (SDS) are commonly used in the manufacture of other substances or goods, such as vinegar or ethyl acetate. Further applications include use as a constituent in solvents and cleaning products as well as in laboratory preparations. Denatured alcohols are also an ingredient in fragrances, proprietary solvents, tobacco flavoring and beauty products.

    Denatured Alcohol and the Law

    • Normally, the Department of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms requires an Industrial Alcohol User Permit for the acquisition, use, sale or storage of denatured ethanol, depending on the purpose and quantity in question. Specific regulations exist for each type of applicant and some exceptions can apply, for instance when resellers never physically come in contact with the product. The Department of the Treasury, Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau offers a publication online that outlines the complete permit application procedure.

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