Researchers from Adelaide University and St Andrews University in Scotland spent more than a decade developing a trio of laser techniques that can successfully trace concentrations of methanol about 10 times lower than internationally recognised safety limits.
The laser lights penetrate the bottle and changes colour based on the liquid, creating a molecular fingerprint that researchers can use to determine the exact ingredients inside.
Methanol is a tasteless, odourless chemical commonly used in household cleaning products that becomes highly poisonous when digested by the human body.
It can be illegally added to alcoholic drinks and can be a by-product of backyard alcohol production.
Less than 25ml of methanol can be fatal, causing hundreds of deaths around the world every year.
Australian teenagers Bianca Jones and Holly Morton-Bowles died in a mass poisoning event after drinking tainted alcohol at a Laos hostel in November 2024.
Bianca's father Mark Jones encouraged the government and private enterprises to back the technological breakthrough.
"When Bianca went away on the trip of a lifetime, we knew nothing about methanol," he told AAP.
"I would just like to have these devices in as many people's hands as possible so what has happened to my beautiful girl and Holly happens to no-one else moving forward."
The technology is currently restricted to the lab, but Centre of Light for Life and Adelaide University physicist Ralf Mouthaan said a handheld device that could be used across the entire supply chain could be developed within two years.
"You can imagine these devices being used at border control or perhaps even at the point of sale, so in bottle shops or in bars so you can actually check that your alcohol does not contain methanol," Dr Mouthaan said.
While current research is focusing on methanol in spirits, the technology can be applied to any kind of liquid sample, including olive oil, wine and even perfume.
"Once you can accurately identify the molecular fingerprint of a liquid through its packaging, there are countless possibilities," Adelaide University and St Andrews University PhD candidate Ane Kritzinger said.
"We're interested in applying the same principles wherever industries need a rapid, reliable and non invasive way to verify what's inside a sealed container."
