Paint thinner, also known as mineral spirits, is a standard product found in home improvement stores and hardware stores.
The product can come in a liquid form or even a gel form. It’s often used to clean brushes and other tools used for painting.
But how dangerous is it? How much paint thinner can kill you? We’ll look at the risks of this household product and how it should be handled to avoid accidents.
How much paint thinner can kill you?
Paint thinners are liquid solvents used to dissolve oil-based paints and varnishes. They are highly flammable, so it’s essential to use them in a well-ventilated area.
Paint thinner can seriously injure or kill you if ingested or inhaled. For example, drinking paint thinner can cause coma and death from respiratory failure.
Inhaling paint thinner can cause death from asphyxiation or cardiac arrest due to a lack of oxygen reaching your brain cells.
Can you die from drinking paint thinner?
If you drink paint thinner, it could kill you. That’s true of almost anything you put in your mouth and swallow—if it’s toxic enough, it will kill you.
However, drinking paint thinner is particularly dangerous because the chemical composition of most brands can cause alcohol poisoning.
The distillation process used to make alcohol creates a highly toxic liquid that must be filtered out during the finished product’s production process.
That leaves behind a poison-laced liquid that tastes like paint thinner but contains about twice as much ethyl ester than beer and nearly half as much methyl ester as wine.
Additionally, some brands add other chemicals for color or consistency; those chemicals may also become poisonous after being absorbed into your body through digestion.
Conclusion
A paint thinner can kill you in large enough doses. And while it might sound strange, it’s one of the most common causes of death by inhalation.
So when working with paint, be sure to use the correct type of respirator and take other precautions so that this doesn’t happen to you.
