Can You Really Survive On Windshield Wiper Fluid For 5 Days?

An Arizona octogenarian was stranded in his car for five days, subsisting on nothing but leftover pasta and windshield wiper fluid, the Arizona Republic reported earlier this week. That's five days with nothing to drink but windshield wiper fluid. We're so glad Henry Morello survived -- but it's unbelievably lucky that he did, explains Dr. Eric Lavonas, a medical toxicologist from the Rocky Mountain Poison and Drug Center in Denver, Colo.

"Five days with very little to drink would put most people in kidney failure," says Lavonas, who's a spokesman for the American College of Emergency Physicians. Indeed, Morello -- who's a diabetic -- will be treated for kidney damage in a Phoenix hospital for a few days, doctors at John C. Lincoln Hospital said at a news conference Tuesday. His doctors also said that it wasn't immediately clear whether the wiper fluid had caused him any serious harm.

Lavonas explains that windshield wiper fluid usually contains methanol, a toxic substance that's often used as an antifreeze. "It’s a poisonous alcohol that can cause bad chemical derangements in the body and can cause blindness. If you drink windshield wiper fluid, you can expect to get very sick and go blind ... within a few hours to a day." (For extra clarity, he adds later, "Yeah, just don't drink windshield wiper fluid.")
Some reports have said that Morello used a napkin to filter the wiper fluid, but Lavonas says that's not a great idea. "The parallel of that would be saying, 'I've got a rum and Coke, and I'm going to filter the rum out.' Yeah, not going to work," he says.

An Arizona octogenarian was stranded in his car for five days, subsisting on nothing but leftover pasta and windshield wiper fluid, the Arizona Republic reported earlier this week. That's five days with nothing to drink but windshield wiper fluid. We're so glad Henry Morello survived -- but it's unbelievably lucky that he did, explains Dr. Eric Lavonas, a medical toxicologist from the Rocky Mountain Poison and Drug Center in Denver, Colo.

"Five days with very little to drink would put most people in kidney failure," says Lavonas, who's a spokesman for the American College of Emergency Physicians. Indeed, Morello -- who's a diabetic -- will be treated for kidney damage in a Phoenix hospital for a few days, doctors at John C. Lincoln Hospital said at a news conference Tuesday. His doctors also said that it wasn't immediately clear whether the wiper fluid had caused him any serious harm.

Lavonas explains that windshield wiper fluid usually contains methanol, a toxic substance that's often used as an antifreeze. "It’s a poisonous alcohol that can cause bad chemical derangements in the body and can cause blindness. If you drink windshield wiper fluid, you can expect to get very sick and go blind ... within a few hours to a day." (For extra clarity, he adds later, "Yeah, just don't drink windshield wiper fluid.")

Some reports have said that Morello used a napkin to filter the wiper fluid, but Lavonas says that's not a great idea. "The parallel of that would be saying, 'I've got a rum and Coke, and I'm going to filter the rum out.' Yeah, not going to work," he says.

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