Denatured ethanol

Uses

In many countries, sales of alcoholic beverages are heavily taxed for revenue and public health policy purposes (see Pigovian tax). In order to avoid requiring beverage taxes on alcohol that is not meant to be consumed, the alcohol is usually "denatured", or treated with added chemicals to make it unpalatable. Its composition is tightly defined by government regulations in countries that tax alcoholic beverages. Denatured alcohol is used identically to ethanol itself but only for applications that involve fuel, surgical and laboratory stock. Pure ethanol is required for food and beverage applications and certain chemical reactions where the denaturant would interfere. In molecular biology, denatured ethanol should not be used for the precipitation of nucleic acids, since the additives may interfere with downstream applications.