I'm an emergency department doctor. Here's how a single sip of methanol puts you on a slippery slope to organ failure - as two Aussie teens fight for life in Thailand

As two Australian best friends cling to life in Thailand hospitals after suspected methanol poisoning, a toxicology expert says there are no warning signs of a fatal dose of the chemical. Methanol tasted and smelt like standard alcohol and was often used as a substitute in illegal alcoholic beverages, Deputy Director and Head of Emergency Medicine at University of Melbourne George Braitberg said. He said it would initially cause the same symptoms of drunkenness and could take 8-18 hours before the toxic effects from methanol were felt and possibly lead to multi-organ failure. Melbourne teenager Bianca Jones is fighting for her life in a Thailand hospital after methanol poisoning Her best friend Holly Bowles is likewise in a critical condition at a separate Thai hospital The chemical liquid contained a toxic metabolite known as formic acid, Professor Braitberg said, which was concentrated in the eyes "causing blurred vision and possible blindness".