Coolant smell is coming through my car heater. How long of breathing it in for it to kill me?

[Ambivalent1]

I looked it up. It's deadly. So how long would it take? Would it be very painful? What would I feel during the whole thing?

 

[Aisley]

You know, I've been wondering about this for weeks, and no one's brought it up, yet. It's just watered down antifreeze, and drinking antifreeze will kill you. Brain damage is in there, too, just a little after some intoxication-like symptoms. When I was a kid it was said, as common knowledge, that it's sweet as syrup and a pretty peaceful way to go. That can't be right, can it?

 

[lostintheloop]

You know, I've been wondering about this for weeks, and no one's brought it up, yet. It's just watered down antifreeze, and drinking antifreeze will kill you. Brain damage is in there, too, just a little after some intoxication-like symptoms. When I was a kid it was said, as common knowledge, that it's sweet as syrup and a pretty peaceful way to go. That can't be right, can it?

I have no idea about inhaling.

IBut drinking Anti-freeze is a pretty painful way to go. In the first 24hrs can make your blood really acidic, you can have breathing and heart problems which won't be peaceful. If you survive the first 24hrs without fatal brain/heart damage killing you then it can take up to 72hrs for kidney failure to occur. Which would be a slow and painful death. Yes there's a possibility you'd end up in a coma in earlier stages but not guaranteed. It creates crystals all over your body in your kidneys and brain which will not be peaceful. Also it rarely tastes sweet anymore, most countries now put a bittering agent in it to mask the sweet taste. Which makes it hard to keep down.

There's also lots that can be done if found in time, even if found already unconscious. there's 2 antidotes (fomepizole or ethanol) or if later/large amount then you'll be put on dialysis. If you survive then you risk brain damage, needing dialysis for the rest of your life, vision problems etc.

No expert on this so sorry for bad explanation. But I've tried it and failed before so done a bit of research.
TLDR: yes drinking it can kill you but very slowly and painfully. Also will likely taste extremely bitter (due to bitirex)

 

[Aisley]

I have no idea about inhaling.

IBut drinking Anti-freeze is a pretty painful way to go. In the first 24hrs can make your blood really acidic, you can have breathing and heart problems which won't be peaceful. If you survive the first 24hrs without fatal brain/heart damage killing you then it can take up to 72hrs for kidney failure to occur. Which would be a slow and painful death. Yes there's a possibility you'd end up in a coma in earlier stages but not guaranteed. It creates crystals all over your body in your kidneys and brain which will not be peaceful. Also it rarely tastes sweet anymore, most countries now put a bittering agent in it to mask the sweet taste. Which makes it hard to keep down.

There's also lots that can be done if found in time, even if found already unconscious. there's 2 antidotes (fomepizole or ethanol) or if later/large amount then you'll be put on dialysis. If you survive then you risk brain damage, needing dialysis for the rest of your life, vision problems etc.

No expert on this so sorry for bad explanation. But I've tried it and failed before so done a bit of research.
TLDR: yes drinking it can kill you but very slowly and painfully. Also will likely taste extremely bitter (due to bitirex)

thank you. I figured there was a reason it wasn't mentioned every other thread here, and I didn't want to be responsible for misleading people, so I never asked.

 

[locked*n*loaded]

Coolant is not as deadly as it once was. It has been re-formulated to be safe now, since many animals were drinking it and becoming sick or died from it, not to mention that people were using it to kill others, as well as themselves. Simply breathing this new formulated coolant isn't going to kill you, but it may make you ill. Who knows, forty years from now, maybe you'll develop some type of cancer from it and will die from it after all?

 

[TraumaEscapee:)]

I looked it up. It's deadly. So how long would it take? Would it be very painful? What would I feel during the whole thing?

Your throat would feel like it was burning and swelling up and you'd feel like you couldn't breath. It's very painful. You'd feel nauseus from the horrible taste. You wouldn't succeed. I know a girl who drank a little bleach, she didn't die but she wasn't able to speak in the moment and was very unwell. Have you considered what would happen if you lived and simply damaged your voice box which would mean you couldn't speak and potentially needed tube feeding for the rest of your life? Sounds very risky to me. There are other methods but that's not one I would choose.
I forgot to say it's not as dangerous as they have changed some of the ingredients and amounts to make it safer if accidentally ingested.

 

[downndone2]

Coolant is no longer sweet and it is not a quick way to go plus it is a brutal way to go. Just read some stories of people who've poisoned their loved ones with it. It makes you sick af as organs slowly shut down. If taken for help, it can be recersed as well.