Best friends Bianca Jones and Holly Bowles were on a dream holiday in South East Asia when they became seriously ill after drinking alcoholic drinks containing methanol – a toxic chemical often found in cleaning products.

The two 19-year-olds are now fighting for their lives in separate hospitals in Bangkok while their families endure a desperate wait at their bedside.

The incident led the government to update its travel advice for Laos, with website Smartraveller warning Australian tourists of the dangers of methanol poisoning.

“Several foreign nationals, including Australians, suffered suspected cases of methanol poisoning following the consumption of alcoholic beverages in November 2024,” Smartraveller’s latest update states.

“Be mindful of potential risks, especially with spirits-based drinks, including cocktails.”

The Smartraveller site then directs potential tourists to the “safety” section of Laos travel advice, as well as a page on “partying safely.”

The updated travel advice comes as a forensic expert released a chilling fact about the toxic chemical.

Drinking just 25-90ml of methanol can be fatal, but Professor David Ranson from Monash University’s Department of Forensic Medicine said that because methanol is “odorless, colorless and tasteless”, there really is no ” “no way” an ordinary traveler would know if it is a product. in their drink or not.

Professor Ranson told Sky News Australia why methanol poisoning is so dangerous and how it can be treated.

“Methanol is actually a very, very harmful alcoholic agent… but the problem is less with the methanol itself – which can certainly be an intoxicant,” he said.

“(The problem is) it’s broken down in the body, as it’s metabolized, into two very harmful chemicals; one is formaldehyde – the type of chemical used in embalming and things like that – and then formic acid.

“And formic acid kills cells in the body, leading to a whole host of symptoms. They suffer from abdominal pain, shortness of breath, chest pain and often visual disturbances.

“And indeed, they can go blind.”

The former head of forensic services at the Victorian Institute of Forensic Medicine said to treat the methanol poisoning Ms Jones and Ms Bowles suffered, doctors would have to stop their bodies from breaking down the methanol.

Surprisingly, Professor Ranson said this could be achieved with the standard form of alcohol contained in drinks.

“What you want to do is block the body’s breakdown of methanol, so that methanol is just excreted naturally from the body,” he said.

“Methanol is broken down by alcohol dehydrogenase…there are a few medications that can actually block this enzyme.

“In fact, ethanol itself – the alcohol we normally consume in drinks – is also an agent that can be used to treat methanol poisoning, especially in the early stages.

“But at the end of the day, it’s supportive therapy.” This often involves kidney dialysis. There are a variety of things that can be done to remove methanol from the body and prevent its conversion into these very harmful byproducts.

Despite its toxicity, methanol is sometimes added to bootleg alcoholic beverages as a cheap alternative to ethanol.

Professor Ranson said although it happens “all over the world”, there has been a cluster of cases in South East Asia in recent years.

“These outbreaks are often linked to replacing or diluting alcoholic beverages by adding methanol to make them go further,” he explained.

“And obviously methanol is a cheaper alcohol. It is an effective industrial cleaner and therefore easy to obtain and add to drinks.

The two teenagers from Melbourne were staying at the Nana Backpackers Hostel in Vang Vieng, Laos, about a 90-minute drive from the capital Vientiane when they fell ill.

It appears they had been drinking free spirits at the hostel bar the day before they fell ill.

However, hostel management denied serving contaminated drinks, insisting that guests at several hostels in the area were affected.

When the Herald Sun visited, bartender Toan Van Vanng aimed to prove that the drinks the girls had consumed at the hostel were not tainted by pouring the same vodka and Coke as the girls had consumed before drinking them himself.

Ten people have been affected by this massive methanol poisoning, and two Swedish nationals have already died.

The families of the Melbourne girls have spoken of their shock at what happened and the anxious wait they are now experiencing.