Do you get drunk from swimming in beer? Does alcohol absorb thru the skin? I would like to hear from someone who has actually done it. We considered pouring a few gallons of cheap vodka in our hottub back in college but never did.
Yeah, you can absorb alcohol through the skin, by inhaling alcohol vapors, and of course by drinking.
Absorption through the skin has been confirmed by a report (Dalt et al, 1991) of a case of a 1 – month old infant who became intoxicated as a result of absorption of ethyl alcohol from dressings applied to the stump of the umbilical cord and the skin adjacent to it.
Additional confirmation of skin absorption comes from a microdialysis study in which a long probe with was inserted under the skin for a distance of 3 cm. Ethyl alcohol was then placed in a small area on the skin above the probe while the subcutaneous area was being perfused. Analysis of the perfusate indicated the presence in an amount that was related to the extent of skin exposure (Anderson et al, 1991).
The inhaling part.. we've added some cheap vodka to our hookah (which is used to smoke legal shisha tobacco that you buy at any cigar store) and it will straight mess you up. I've also heard of fancy-pants bars where you can buy hits on alcohol vapor machines instead of drinks. Sounds retarded but I've never tried it.