Methanol

Methanol is an organic solvent with the formula CH₃OH. At room temperature, methanol is a light liquid, transparent, flammable, and toxic. It's used as antifreeze, solvent, and fuel (Fig. 1).

Methanol is the simplest alcohol, and it is used to produce a wide variety of chemicals, such as formaldehyde or acetic acid. Widely used as a solvent in many different industries, methanol is massively produced worldwide. There are more than 90 plants producing methanol worldwide, which makes for a total of 110 million metric tons of methanol produced yearly.

Fig. 1: Methanol risks