Enzymic method for the determination of ethanol and methanol with spectrophotometric detection of the rate of the process

An enzymic method for the determination of ethanol and methanol and for the determination of methanol in water–ethanol solutions is described. The reaction of alcohol oxidation catalysed by alcohol oxidase conjugated with the indicator reaction of p-phenylenediamine oxidation with hydrogen peroxide was chosen for this determination. The method proposed shows reasonable limits of detection (9 µ mol l–1 for ethanol and 0.9 µ mol l–1 for methanol). The method is simple, rapid and sensitive. A test method for ethanol and methanol identification is also described.