Determination of percentage of Methanol in an Alcohol based hand sanitiser
Russell, agree with your down voting frustration but it is a common problem of any public forum. The bad news is that &quot;simple&quot; distinguishing test do exist, but they generate more toxic products (including a carcinogen) in a so-called iodoform test. Good for school labs only. The problem is not in distinguishing methanol versus ethanol, the problem is the matrix (as analytical chemists call it), i.e., these alcohols are present in a complex mixture.
The only reliable test test to determine methanol in a complex mixture like a hand sanitizer is gas chromatography. You need to consult a professional certified service to ask them to analyze the sanitizer. There is no home-kit or simple test to differentiate the two in a mixture.