NEWS - FDA public health warning: do not use 35% hydrogen peroxide

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FDA PUBLIC HEALTH WARNING

DO NOT USE 35 PERCENT HYDROGEN PEROXIDE

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) warned consumers on July 27, 2006,

not to buy or to use for medical purposes high-strength hydrogen peroxide

products, including an over-the-counter product marketed as " 35 Percent Food

Grade Hydrogen Peroxide, " because they can cause harm or death when taken

internally. These products are not approved by the FDA and the agency

recommends that consumers who are currently using high-strength hydrogen

peroxide stop immediately and consult their physicians.

Three percent hydrogen peroxide is sold legally as a weak over-the-counter

topical antibacterial to disinfect minor wounds and cuts. The high-strength

hydrogen peroxide products are more than ten times the concentration of the

legally marketed products and are highly corrosive. Taking hydrogen peroxide

internally can cause gastrointestinal (GI) irritation or ulceration.

Intravenous (IV) administration of hydrogen peroxide can cause inflammation

of the blood vessel at the injection site, gas embolisms (bubbles in the

blood stream), and potentially life-threatening allergic reactions.

The FDA issued Warning Letters to two firms, DFWX of Wolfe City, TX and Frad

35, Inc. of Clyde, TX, for illegally selling 35 percent hydrogen peroxide

products on Internet sites for the treatment of AIDS, cancers, emphysema,

and other serious and life-threatening diseases. Some of the dangerous,

unsupported, and illegal claims that are being made by these companies are:

- " ... it is believed that hydrogen peroxide may help prevent and even

combat cancer. "

- " Conditions which can be treated with H202 [hydrogen peroxide] include

those conditions which can be treated with antibiotics, but without the

serious toxicity often associated with laboratory produced synthetic

antibiotics. Some of these conditions are candidiasis [yeast], viral

infections, influenza, the common cold, sinus infection, Epstein-Barr virus

and gangrene. "

- " Hydrogen peroxide also has been found to dissolve cholesterol and calcium

deposits associated with atherosclerosis. Therefore, it is a good treatment

for vascular disorders. This can result in lessening or disappearance of

angina [chest pain] ... can help reverse some of the damage left over by a

stroke ... "

- " Some doctors believe AIDS and cancer can be helped with hydrogen

peroxide. "

- " It also clears the lungs, in cases of emphysema ... "

- " In addition, hydrogen peroxide benefits asthma, leukemia, multiple

sclerosis, degenerative spinal disc disease and high blood pressure. It is

particularly effective with asthma, arthritis and back disorders. "

- " Intravenous hydrogen peroxide rapidly relieves allergic reactions,

influenza symptoms, and acute viral infections. "

- " Hydrogen peroxide can also be applied either internally as injections

(directly into a cancerous tumor for example) or intravenously into the

blood stream. "

Seventeen years ago, in April 1989, the FDA warned consumers about the

illegal promotion of high-strength hydrogen peroxide to treat AIDS and

cancer following at least one death in Texas and several injuries requiring

hospitalization. In addition to the dangers of using an ineffective and

dangerous chemical for medicinal purposes, keeping 35 percent hydrogen

peroxide or other concentrated forms of this chemical in the home poses the

additional risk of accidental poisonings. The FDA found two incidents of

serious injury involving high-strength hydrogen peroxide. In the first case,

a four-year-old girl poured a drink for her two brothers from a quart bottle

of 35 percent hydrogen peroxide that she mistook for water. The resulting

injuries required more than six months of medical care and cost thousands of

dollars. The second case involved a mother who poured what she thought was

water from a bottle in her refrigerator for her two children and a neighbors

child. Her children were severely injured and the neighbors child died after

drinking the liquid.

It is likely that there are more instances of serious injuries and perhaps

deaths from high-strength hydrogen peroxide than the cases the FDA found 17

years ago. The purveyors of dangerous alternative medicine treatments such

as high-strength hydrogen peroxide operate outside of the law, because 35

percent hydrogen peroxide is an unapproved drug. Manufacturers of drugs are

required to report adverse events to regulatory authorities. The only way

that the public finds out about problems with products marketed illegally

like those addressed here is when individuals are killed or injured.

Unfortunately, the promotion of hydrogen peroxide as an alternative medicine

has continued and has reappeared despite efforts by the FDA beginning in

1985 to get distributors to stop selling and making illegal claims for 35

percent hydrogen peroxide. This places in question the ability of the FDA to

prevent needless harm from clearly dangerous products that are being sold

illegally. It is yet another example of the FDAs failure to enforce existing

laws and prosecute these companies.

What You Can Do

You should not purchase or use any 35 percent hydrogen peroxide product for

any purpose. Consumers are being cheated and subjected to significant risks

and family members may be accidentally injured.

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Mayo Clinic in Rochester

http://www.mayoclinic.org/rochester

s Hopkins Medicine

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