[AS87]

Hi guys,

I'm afraid I have no idea at all about chemistry (passed GCSE but that's all) and I am really in need for some 'impartial' advice.

I have been told about this MMS (miracle mineral supplement) that is supposed to heal almost anything, including asthma, malaria and even the flu (as you imagine, swine flu is on my mind!!).  I have been thinking of taking it as I have quite bad asthma and I'm a little bit worried about the flu but I really want to look into the mms, and not take it at face value, because I don't want to be doing myself or importantly my wife any damage trying to prevent something which we may not even get if we are lucky.

As far as I am aware, it is simply ClO₂ in liquid form.  You are meant to put a drop in a glass of water and drink it 3 times a day.  You should then increase this by 1 drop per day until you begin to feel nauseous, and then keep it there until you stop feeling nauseous, and then increase it again and so on until you are at about 15/16 drops, 3 times per day.

This instantly got me worried as surely anything that makes you nauseous is not good for you as your body is wanting to reject it.

This is why I came here, as you guys I'm sure will have a good understanding of ClO₂ or even just chlorine on a better level.  So would it be dangerous to take 3 times daily?  Will the chlorine in ClO₂ have the same bad effects as Cl₂?

Thanks for any help, I know I have gone on but I would really apreciate any advice.

Many thanks.

[azmanam]

I have been told about this MMS (miracle mineral supplement) that is supposed to heal almost anything, including asthma, malaria and even the flu

That's about as far as I needed to read before I concluded you're dealing with snake oil and you should never buy anything from anyone that also sells chlorine dioxide as an mms.  Ever.

But, to humor you, here's what I found.  ClO2 is a disinfectant along the lines of bleach.  In fact, it's used to disinfect drinking water with the same effect as bleach.  It does not necessarily appear to be harmful to humans in the low dose you'll likely be taking... some even claim it's an ok mouthwash.  But I question what you're actually ingesting.  The concentrated liquid is dangerously explosive, and is really only safe to transport as dilute solutions in cold water.  so by the time you dilute it even more before you drink it... how much ClO2 are you actually ingesting?  I suspect not much more than the chlorine that was already used to disinfect your drinking water in the first place.

Here's a forum where people already had the full argument on our behalf, complete with name calling, and dismissal of evidence on both sides.  Fun times were had by all, I'm sure: http://ask.metafilter.com/79203/chlorine-dioxide-miracle-mineral-suppliment

Also, the EPA has a couple of documents on the stuff.  It appears it has not been extensive tested on humans in any scientifically significant study (so any claims to the contrary should be dismissed).  Do a search for chlorine dioxide on EPAs website, and check out hte following links:

http://www.epa.gov/ogwdw000/mdbp/pdf/alter/chapt_4.pdf
http://www.epa.gov/NCEA/iris/subst/0496.htm
http://www.epa.gov/NCEA/iris/toxreviews/0496-tr.pdf

(this was my favorite paragraph from that last link:

No human studies assessing the carcinogenic potential of chlorine dioxide or chlorite were located. Chlorine dioxide carcinogenicity has not been tested in animal bioassays. Chlorite was not shown to increase tumor incidences in rats and mice; these studies are considered inadequate for assessing human carcinogenicity because the exposure was for less than a lifetime, a high incidence of Sendai virus was found in the rats, and mortality was high in the mouse control group because of excessive fighting.

Nice.)

Bottom line: is it harmful?  probably not in low doses.  you're already essentially drinking it in low doses in disinfected drinking water.  Is it safe?  not enough information.  again, at low doses it's probably safe enough.  Is it ever going to cure every ailment known to man?  Never.  Anyone who tells you otherwise is to be distrusted forevermore.

[stevet]

I found a 'book' supposedly writen by the discoverer of the miracle cure. You can download it here http://www.miraclemineral.org/part1.php (about 2 MB).

Take a read, the story is a bit ridiculous, but at the same time really funny just to read. This man seems to have all the rignt thing at just the right moments, believes that there is a big conspiracy out there to prevent the use of alternative medicines etc..

As a scientist (and a natural skeptic) this book just confirms what amanzam said: it is most likely a snake oil. Teh science in the 'book' is questioable, as is most of the facts.

But have a read and decide for yourself!

Keep healthy