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Hydrogen peroxide is a first aid staple in many households, routinely used to disinfect small wounds. Bottles of it are readily available at drug stores, with the compound formulated for home use vended in dilute form of 3% to 10%. Hydrogen peroxide also finds application as an antiseptic gargle, a clothes and hair bleach, and an aid to ear wax removal. A paste of hydrogen peroxide and baking soda is used as a tooth scrub, and hydrogen peroxide is the major component of any number of tooth-whitening products. Higher concentrations (30% or greater) of hydrogen peroxide are used in industry as a bleach for textiles and paper, as a component of rocket fuels, and for producing foam rubber and organic chemicals. Hydrogen peroxide in these strengths is dangerous for the untrained to handle or come into contact with. Spills of industrial-strength peroxide in transit have resulted in freeway and rail line closures, because at such concentrations hydrogen peroxide presents an imminent danger of fire and explosion, and inhalation of its fumes can send people to the hospital. While some of the peroxide-related tips enumerated in the following example above have previously appeared on other Internet-circulated lists, this particular compilation seems to have begun its on-line life in January 2006: As to how good its advice is, the best that can be said is that some of the items are accurate, while others are unproved and possibly unprovable. In the main, however, one would likely not suffer much ill effect by following the list's recommendations. The two possible exceptions to the no ill effects pronouncement are the tips that involve putting hydrogen peroxide into direct contact with mucous membranes: spraying it into the nose to clear plugged sinuses or combat colds, and adding it to a douche to prevent yeast infections. While we don't know if such suggestions work as touted, given the Centers for Disease Control's statement that When used for household disinfectant purposes (3% to 5%), [hydrogen peroxide] is mildly irritating to the skin and mucous membranes, we'd have to advise that trying out either tip might not be such a good idea. Of the list's suggestions that can be vetted, no less an authority on germs than Dr. Philip Tierno advocates pouring hydrogen peroxide or mouthwash over toothbrushes after every use. Hydrogen peroxide has also long been touted as an effective remover of bloodstains, but people do need to be reminded that it is also a bleach and so might lift out the color of the item being cleaned along with the stain. Disinfecting countertops and cutting boards with hydrogen peroxide can also be handy as the liquid does combat a number of household nasties, but the 3% dilution hydrogen peroxide is commonly sold at won't be the sudden death to all germs answer that this list of tips presents it as. As for killing foot fungus, putting the run on boils, curing canker sores, or cleaning out infections, it is not known if hydrogen peroxide is effective for these purposes. Soaking an infected wound in hydrogen peroxide several times throughout the day for five or ten minutes at a crack is probably not a good idea, though, because the solution can damage tissue if left in contact with skin for any length of time. Two additional health-related uses for hydrogen peroxide should also be examined, even though neither of them was mentioned in this list of tips: injecting and swallowing hydrogen peroxide. While such treatments do have their advocates (who in turn claim such dosings will cure everything from AIDS to cancer), both uses amount to quackery. The proponents of oxygen therapy assert they are boosting the body's ability to destroy disease-causing cells, but there is no medical proof to support such use. Moreover, according to the American Cancer Society (ACS), both such uses are dangerous. The ACS also notes The medical literature contains several accounts of patient deaths attributed directly to oxygen therapy. One such case was the 14 March 2004 death of Katherine Bibeau of South Carolina. The coroner who handled the case attributed her death to the intravenous infusion of hydrogen peroxide Ms. Bibeau had been receiving as a treatment for her multiple sclerosis. Hydrogen peroxide destroys blood platelets, the cells that coagulate to stop bleeding, and puts oxygen into the bloodstream that can form bubbles which stop the flow of blood to organs, said Clay Nichols, the pathologist on the case. As to what to make of the numerous claims asserted of the hydrogen peroxide, in the main, most external uses of household-strength hydrogen peroxide are relatively harmless (if not necessarily helpful), but internal use should be shunned. Gargle with it, wipe wounds with it, foam the wax out of your ears with it, bleach your hair and your clothes with it, but don't drink it or let someone shoot it into your veins.
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