Ethyl Alcohol Why to Consume Diluted?

Ethanol is a volatile, colorless liquid that has a strong characteristic odor. It burns with a smokeless blue flame that is not always visible in normal light. Ethanol is classified as a primary alcohol, meaning that the carbon to which its hydroxyl group is attached has at least two hydrogen atoms attached to it as well. Many of the reactions of ethanol occur at its hydroxyl group.

Ethanol is the principal active constituent in alcoholic beverages, with depressant effects on the central nervous system of brain. It has a complex mode of action and affects multiple systems in the brain; most notably ethanol acts as a receiver.

Alcoholic beverages differ largely in their ethanol content and in the food stuffs from which they are produced. Most alcoholic beverages can be broadly classified as fermented beverages, beverages made by the action of yeast on sugary foodstuffs, or as distilled beverages, beverages whose preparation involves concentrating the ethanol in fermented beverages by distillation. The ethanol content of a beverage is usually measured in terms of the volume fraction of ethanol in the beverage, expressed either as a percentage or in alcoholic proof units. It is consumed diluted because Ethanol within the human body is converted into acetaldehyde by alcohol dehydrogenase and then into acetic acid by acetaldehyde dehydrogenase.

The product of the first step of this breakdown, acetaldehyde, is more toxic than ethanol. Acetaldehyde is linked to most of the clinical effects of alcohol. It has been shown to increase the risk of developing cirrhosis of the liver multiple forms of cancer, and alcoholism. Pure ethanol and alcoholic beverages are heavily taxed, but ethanol has many uses that do not involve consumption by humans. To relieve the tax burden on these uses, most jurisdictions waive the tax when an agent has been added to the ethanol to render it unfit to drink. These include bettering agents such as denatonium benzoate and toxins such as methanol, naphtha, and pyridine. Products of this kind are called denatured alcohol.