A 23-year-old homeless man is found to have consumed alcohol adulterated with methanol. He is started on treatment effective for minimizing the toxicity to methanol. Which of the following is the most likely explanation for the benefit of this treatment?
Ethanol is the standard antidote for methanol. It inhibits the conversion of methanol to its toxic metabolite, formic acid, by alcohol dehydrogenase.
enhances renal excretion of methanol
prevents biotransformation of methanol
combines to form a nontoxic polymer
changes the toxin's volume of distribution
Toxicology