Hydrogen Peroxide Uses | Home Uses of Hydrogen Peroxide | Hydrogen Peroxide Garden Uses

From the Globe and Mail to local city papers across the U.S.
the buzz is on about Green Cleaning this Spring.

Dierdre Imus’ new book Green This! Is just hitting the shelves
and all over the landscape people are talking about how they
keep house.

Stories ranging from personal encounters with white vinegar
smelling up the kitchen to advice on how to transform your
Spring cleaning with non-toxic alternatives and home made
remedies are publishing all over the country as manufacturers
scramble to explain how their toxic ingredients are not really
toxic.

At the same time the next wave of “green cleaning products”
is moving out across the landscape to meet this new demand.
Target is adding green products to their stores; and new
organic and safe cleaners for babies and families are
being introduced by new companies coming into the market.

What you might not have known is that this new trend has
a name… Yes, LOHAS is the name of a “trend”. To be more
precise, it is a “Market Segment”, as is explained in this excerpt
from the Globe and Mail:

Green thinkers belong to an increasingly important market segment called LOHAS (Lifestyles of Health and Sustainability), a concept originated about seven years ago from the work of sociologist Paul Ray, co-author of The Cultural Creatives: How 50 Million People are Changing the World.

So if you were thinking that you were the only one you knew who
seems to be looking at life in a way that is “a bit green of main
stream” you can see, you really aren’t alone. You’re a part of something
bigger, and maybe better! A Market Segment! Whew Hoo!

When we observe life in nature, we find endless examples of
the natural order of life itself.

Just as the beauty of nature nurtures our spirit, the natural systems within nature sustain and support our physical well being. When we unleash the power of nature within our own systems of endeavor we find unlimited potential and endless abundance.

We are at the front of a vast frontier into new sciences and emerging technologies
capable of producing clean energy, increased vitality and expanding sustainability.

New breakthroughs in materials and construction of solar, wind and biomass energy
systems as well as advancements in carbon free energy carriers are leading us ever
closer to a world of clean reliable and sustainable energy systems.

In this season of Spring new products, programs and public discussion has
blossomed in a wealth of “going green” reflected everywhere from new Home
Improvement television programs to all natural organic fiber products for babies
and beyond.

Natural solutions to complex problems including waste management, soil erosion
and sustainable living practicies are “blooming” far and wide.

I am stunned to see that popular products are still
promoting bleach as a positive addition to their
ingredient list.

Are people really still falling for the “bleach” thing?

If so, my advice is to do a little research on Google.

Look up dioxin. At the EPA for instance…

cfpub.epa.gov/ncea/cfm/recordisplay.cfm?deid=55264

Dioxin is not a manufactured chemical. It is a “by-product’
of various combinations of “members of three closely
related families: the chlorinated dibenzo-p-dioxins (CDDs),
chlorinated dibenzofurans (CDFs) and certain polychlori-
nated biphenyls (PCBs).”*1

These chemical combinations are formed in incinerators,
paper and pulp or fiber processing, where chlorine is the
bleaching agent; and in municipal waste treatment plants
where the water supplies are chlorinated.

Dioxin is persistent in the environment and breaks down very
slowly over a long period of time. That means it will travel
through the food chain to the top in larger concentrations
over time as it isn’t broken down along the way.

“Dioxin enters the general population almost exclusively
from ingestion of food, specifically through the consumption
of fish, meat, and dairy products since dioxins are fat-soluble
and readily climb the food chain.”*2

Before the great new “Dioxin Reassessment” went up at the
EPA it was already a known fact that certain dioxins are
several orders of magnitude more carcinogenic than DDT.
Not twice as bad, mind you, but thousands of times
more toxic…

But those “bleach added” commercials just don’t quit, eh?
There is even a little video on Google that will teach you
how to clean the inside of your refrigerator with bleach.

Hmmm. Chalk it up to human nature. We imitate our parents.
Unfortunately, our parents and their parents were all part of
a massive expansion into the “chemical age” without a lot of
solid science about the impact of some of the chemicals
involved.

Not to worry. We have other choices. In this whole social
climate of “cleanliness” or “germ phobia” we have come to see
ourselves as somehow endangered by the natural environment.
Evil germs and bacteria will take us down if we don’t sterilize
the surroundings to death, literally.

But we can choose another way. We can have our clean
and be healthy and nonlethal to the rest of the environment
too.With simple hydrogen peroxide we can do the job better.
When we put hydrogen peroxide in combination with acetic
acid (white vinegar to us novices) we get 100 percent of
he sterilizing power needed in food handling with none, and I mean
zero, zilch, zip, nada, no environmental, health, or other
consequences to you, your home or your family, dog, cat, fish
or anyone or anything else living in the environment..
Are you getting the picture yet? Consequences.

The consequences of hydrogen peroxide are water and oxygen.
That’s your by-product. No carcinogens. No long term
residual toxicity to build up in the environment and
move up the food chain.

Seems simple enough to me.

In case you are thinking that what you pour down your drain is no
big deal, consider this small excerpt from a L.A. Times last
Spring regarding anti bacterial soaps:

“About 75% of a potent bacteria-killing chemical that people
flush down their drains survives treatment at sewage plants,
and most of that ends up in sludge spread on farm fields,
according to Johns Hopkins University research. Every year,
it says, an estimated 200 tons of two compounds —
triclocarban and triclosan — are applied to agricultural
lands nationwide.”

We can clean up our cleaning up. We can go to a real clean
without consequences which actually endanger us. From
compost to septic tank, municipal water treatment to
flood water decontamination and yes, even to our own
house hold cleaning regimen, we can go along with
the natural order and thrive.

Start thriving now… Clean up your messes with h2o2
and thrive in a clean and toxin free environment for
everyone.

*1 E.P.A. Dioxin FAQ
*2 Dioxin and Human Health Wikipedia

Hydrogen Peroxide seems to be in the news a lot lately! Take a look at what the NSF has up on their site today… The latest news in the research to decontaminate dangerous flood waters starring good old H2o2! Three Cheers For Science!

National Science Foundation Researchers Using Hydrogen Peroxide In the News January 10, 2007

You Still Can’t Drink the Water, But Now You Can Touch It

Laboratory filtration system kills 100 percent of dangerous microbes in water taken from Hurricane Katrina disaster Researchers hold the polymer that is critical to their water filtration system.

Researchers hold the polymer that is critical to their water filtration system.
, Credit and Larger Version
January 9, 2007
Engineers have developed a system that uses a simple water purification technique that can eliminate 100 percent of the microbes in New Orleans water samples left from Hurricane Katrina. The technique makes use of specialized resins, copper and hydrogen peroxide to purify tainted water.

The system–safer, cheaper and simpler to use than many other methods–breaks down a range of toxic chemicals. While the method cleans the water, it doesn’t yet make the water drinkable. However, the method may eventually prove critical for limiting the spread of disease at disaster sites around the world.

National Science Foundation-funded researchers Vishal Shah and Shreya Shah of Dowling College in Long Island, New York, collaborated with Boris Dzikovski of Cornell University and Jose Pinto of New York’s Polytechnic University in Brooklyn to develop the technique. The research published online in Environmental Pollution on Jan. 10, 2007.

“After the disaster of Hurricane Katrina, scientists have had their backs against the wall trying to develop safeguards,” said Shah. “No one knows when a similar situation may arise. We need to develop a treatment for decontaminating flood water before it either comes in contact with humans or is pumped into natural reservoirs.”

The treatment system that the researchers are developing is simple: a polymer sheet of resins containing copper is immersed in the contaminated flood water. The addition of hydrogen peroxide generates free radicals on the polymer. The free radicals remain bound to the sheet, where they come in contact with bacteria and kill them.

The researchers are working to lower the amount of copper in the treated water end product and improving the system’s impact on chemical toxins. Shah believes it could be ready for emergency use within five to seven years. To develop their process, the researchers built upon a century-old chemical mechanism called the Fenton reaction - a process wherein metal catalysts cause hydrogen peroxide to produce large numbers of free radicals.

Free radicals are atoms or molecules that have an extra electron in dire need of a partner (they obtain the partner by stripping it from a nearby atom, damaging the “victim” in the process). In large quantities, the radicals can destroy toxic chemicals and even bombard bacteria to death or irreparably damage a microorganism’s cell membrane.

Applying their technique to water from the Industrial and 17th Street canals in New Orleans, the researchers were able to destroy all of the bacteria within 15 minutes. In tests with laboratory water samples containing even higher bacterial concentrations, the exact same process killed at least 99 percent of the bacteria in 90 minutes.

-NSF-

Visit Their Site

If you spend any time attempting to do research on the environmental impacts or potential hazards of chlorine or its derivatives, the story is wide ranging and full of specific perspectives.

Like any “popular subject topic” the “information” available ranges in scope and calibre from actual scientific studies (of which there are far too few; the common case with many chemical products in today’s marketplace; all the way to completely inaccurate, oversimplified or purposefully misleading or misrepresented information which achieves a “point of view”. In many cases, supporting evidence notwithstanding.

Suffice to say that a thinking person, upon approaching such a subject, understands that the world he or she encounters upon “investigation” (which should be called “outvestigation, really, as you go out and find what others are saying about it, don’t you?) is fraught with vested interests of all sorts, attempting to justify and persuade you into agreeing with their position.

Because there is so little actual science to be had, the odds of getting good information are not great. Because there is a long standing industrial and municipal commitment to chlorine water disinfection, there is a preponderance of pro chlorine “white noise”…

I stumbled across an ad for Clorox on a keyword search for “natural cleaners” the other day… I don’t think I can go that far..

What we do know about chlorine and all its cousins, is that it has a natural tenancy to bond to organic substances in ways we had not anticipated. These “organochlorines” are extremely environmentally persistent; that is to say, they do not break down easily in the environment, but rather, sustain over long periods of time and travel through out the food chain.

In North America today, studies find humans can have up to 177 different varieties of these new creatives derived of chlorine molecules in diverse combination with organics in their body tissues. These organochlorines are the result of chlorine’s interactions with organic materials encountered in the process of their “break down” into harmless salts and water.

We also know that long term exposure to chlorinated drinking water increases rates of bladder and colon cancer in humans fairly significantly. If you want to read that data search for the cancer type with study and chlorine in the search. It is the only real data other than “known eye and respiratory tract irritant” that seems to be available for common perusal.

Finally, we know that organochlorines may not all be detrimental to our well being, but a few of them certainly are. Dioxins are one of the families of organochlorines. So, this might be iffy…

Now you can see why the idea of including information relating to this subject might become a bit of a pickle. There are far too many voices attempting to confound and confuse for the purposes of persuasion already. What to do? Well, my advice dear reader, is to:

Use your own head. Think it through as best you can, and come to your own best conclusion. Nothing else is really relevant anyway. As for chlorine, it has served us very well for a century nearly, from war zone to water pipe…

Perhaps it is possible we are on the verge of something new and wonderful that can help us find the answers to the problems chlorine has presented. Perhaps, we, like our forefathers, will come up with a better idea. Or a different idea.

They beat cholera and all sorts of seriously dangerous and deadly diseases, and now we will look out and see what new solutions are coming to take the place of a solution that has served us well and yet now may be one we no longer wish to choose.

For Chlorine’s virtue has always and still is, its environmental persistence. That is to say, the ability of chlorine to travel from the municipal water station to your home and persist in keeping the water free of bacteria and infectious disease, is what has made chlorine the solution for water disinfection. Ironically, it may also be its curse.

On site disinfection may become the new solution, which bypasses the need for any form of persistent disinfection. Because, as it seems to turn out, persistent disinfection is not good for us either.