HOOH production

[shawn]

H2O2 is relatively cheap to buy, but the stuff available in stores is denatured.
35% food grade is still available from some places but this may change.
I thought it would be of interest to look into methods of safely and easily producing this necessary compound, but it seems to be rather complicated and difficult to do so.
Most methods involve dangerous chemicals which themselves can eventually pose potential challenges to get.
I did however find this:

A novel electrochemical process for the production of alkaline hydrogen peroxide is available from Dow Chemical. The process produces a 4 percent alkaline solution of hydrogen peroxide that is well suited for onsite pulp bleaching. Hydrogen peroxide is synthesized by electrolysis of dilute sodium hydroxide solution in Dow's proprietary electrochemical cell. Alkaline peroxide, nominally in the weight ratio 1.7 NaOH to 1.0 H2O2, is produced by cathodic reduction of oxygen on a catalytic trickle bed of carbon chips. The basic raw materials are water, oxygen, sodium hydroxide, and tetrasodium
EDTA. The alkaline peroxide technology is best utilized for applications where it is not necessary to separate the peroxide from the caustic soda in the product, as in pulp bleaching.

So it is possible to use an electrochemical process, but this produces a product which still requires a separation process to extract the H2O2 from the caustic soda.

Anybody have any other ideas/knowledge/suggestions?

[sucahyo]

What is HOOH benefit for health?

I do find some reference of the benefit of electrolysis in our body in puharich book. Anti oxidant?

[shawn]

(H2O2)

We can call hydrogen peroxide a close relative of ozone. Aside from being known as a powerful oxygenator and oxidizer, a special quality of hydrogen peroxide is its ability to readily decompose into water and oxygen. Like ozone, hydrogen peroxide reacts easily with other substances and is able to kill bacteria, fungi, parasites, viruses, and some types of tumor cells.

Hydrogen peroxide occurs naturally within the Earth's biosphere; traces of it are found in rain and snow. It has also been found in many of the healing springs of the world, including Fatima in Portugal, Lourdes in France, and the Shrine of St. Anne in Quebec. Hydrogen peroxide is an important component of plant life, and small amounts are found in many vegetables and fruits, including fresh cabbage, tomatoes, asparagus, green peppers, watercress, oranges, apples, and watermelons.

Hydrogen peroxide is also found in the animal kingdom and is involved in many of our body's natural processes. As an oxygenator, it is able to deliver small quantities of oxygen to the blood and other vital systems throughout the body. Hydrogen peroxide does not oxygenate the body merely by producing modest amounts of oxygen, however; it has an extraordinary capacity to stimulate oxidative enzymes, which have the ability to change the chemical component of other substances (like viruses and bacteria) without being changed themselves. Rather than providing more oxygen to the cells, the presence of hydrogen peroxide enhances natural cellular oxidative processes, which increases the body's ability to use what oxygen is available.

Hydrogen peroxide must be present for our immune system to function properly. The cells in the body that fight infection (the class of white blood cells known as granulocytes) produce hydrogen peroxide as a first line of defense against harmful parasites, bacteria, viruses, and fungi. Hydrogen peroxide is also needed for the metabolism of protein, carbohydrates, fats, vitamins, and minerals. It is a by-product of cell metabolism (that is actively broken down by peroxidase), a hormonal regulator, and a necessary part of the body's production of estrogen, progesterone, and thyroxin. If that weren't enough, hydrogen peroxide is involved in the regulation of blood sugar and the production of energy in body cells

Hydrogen peroxide was discovered in 1818 by the French chemist Louis-Jacques Thenard, who named it eau oxygenee, or "oxygenated water." It has been used commercially since the mid-1800s as a nonpolluting bleaching agent, oxidizing agent, and disinfectant.

Although it is found in nature, small quantities of hydrogen peroxide can be made in the laboratory by reacting barium peroxide with cold diluted sulfuric acid. Larger amounts are produced by electrolyzing chilled concentrated sulfuric acid. This process causes a series of chemical reactions to occur and to create a substance called peroxy-disulfuric acid. When the solution is warmed to room temperature, it becomes hydrogen peroxide.

Hydrogen peroxide is found in a variety of different grades:

* 3 percent grade hydrogen peroxide is the type we find in pharmacies and grocery stores. Made primarily of 50 percent "super D peroxide" and diluted, it contains a variety of stabilizers like phenol, acetanilide, and sodium stancite (which are not recommended for internal use). It is used mostly to disinfect wounds and treat skin rashes, and as an effective, inexpensive (although unpleasant tasting to some) mouthwash. This grade of hydrogen peroxide is also used around the house to freshen the bathroom and to wash fresh fruits and vegetables. While safe for those applications, 3 percent grade H2O2 should not be ingested.
* 6 percent grade hydrogen peroxide contains an activator that makes it an effective bleaching agent. It is used primarily by hairdressers, surfers, and teenagers for coloring their hair.
* Like other grades of hydrogen peroxide, 30 percent reagent grade looks like harmless water. However, it is a highly concentrated chemical compound that is very corrosive. Strict precautions must be taken by those who plan to use it. When it makes contact with skin, burns can result. Breathing the vapor or ingesting it full strength can be hazardous and even fatal. Yet when used properly, reagent-grade hydrogen peroxide is safe. Because it is relatively free of heavy metals and other trace elements, it is used primarily in medical research. It is also highly recommended for use (in diluted form) in bio-oxidative therapy. Reagent-grade hydrogen peroxide can be found in chemical supply stores.
* 35 percent food-grade hydrogen peroxide has traditionally been used by the food industry as a nontoxic disinfectant. Added to water, it is sprayed on cheese, eggs, vegetables, fruits, and whey products to keep them free of unwanted bacteria. It is used to disinfect metal and foil-lined food containers. Food grade hydrogen peroxide is also used in the dairy industry as a disinfectant and bactericide. While considered less desirable than reagent grade for use in bio-oxidative therapy, food-grade hydrogen peroxide is easily obtainable in any large natural-food store.
* 90 percent hydrogen peroxide is used by the military and in space exploration as a propulsion source for rocket fuel. A highly unstable compound that can explode unless handled very carefully, it is not recommended for use in bio-oxidative therapy.

Hydrogen peroxide in medicine

The first medical use of hydrogen peroxide was reported by I. N. Love, M.D., a consulting physician at the City Hospital in St. Louis, in the March 3, 1888, issue of the journal of the American Medical Association under the title "Peroxide of Hydrogen as a Remedial Agent." The article, based on a talk given to the St. Louis Medical Society the previous month, related Dr. Love's success in treating patients with a variety of diseases, including scarlet fever, diphtheria, nasal catarrh, acute coryza (head catarrh), whooping cough, asthma, hay fever, and tonsillitis. In these cases, treatment primarily involved administering a diluted solution of hydrogen peroxide into the nostrils with a syringe. Dr. Love commented: "From its very nature this agent should be a powerful antiseptic and a destroyer of microbes; anything which accomplishes oxidation as rapidly, if it can be applied safely, must be an excellent application to purulent surfaces for its cleansing effect." Dr. Love also documented the use of hydrogen peroxide in treating uterine cancer as a "cleanser, deodorizer and stimulator of healing.

Later that year at the Annual Meeting of the Medical Society of Georgia, P. R. Cortelyou, M.D., reported his clinical experience with hydrogen peroxide in treating disorders of the throat and nose. Dr. Cortelyou diluted hydrogen peroxide and used the fluid as a fine spray for treating people with chronic pharyngitis, rhinitis, cough, sore throat, tonsillitis, and diphtheria. In some cases, Dr. Cortelyou used hydrogen peroxide in combination with other medicines of the time, including "muriate of cocaine," and a solution made with iodine, potash, and glycerine. After treating a woman suffering from severe cough and high fever with this combination for four weeks, the doctor reported: "The throat was feeling so much better that the treatment was only given twice a week, and patient has kept in good condition all winter.

The first known use of intravenous hydrogen peroxide was reported by the British physician T. H. Oliver in 1920. In India the previous year he had treated twenty-five patients who were critically ill with influenzal pneumonia by injecting hydrogen peroxide directly into their veins. Compared to a typical death rate of over 80 percent for this disease, Oliver's patients had a mortality rate of only 48 percent. Although this method of hydrogen peroxide delivery can cause gas embolism, a condition that can obstruct blood vessels and lead to a stroke, apparently that did not occur in any of the patients treated.

In the United States, studies with hydrogen peroxide were conducted by the noted chemist and physician William Frederick Koch in the 1920s with cancer patients. Dr. Koch used a substance he called glyoxylide, which is believed to be the same oxygen found in hydrogen peroxide. Rather than using intravenous administration like Oliver, he preferred giving the substance intramuscularly.

While his treatments were successful, Dr. Koch was later sued by the United States Food and Drug Administration. Although acquitted, he decided to leave the United States and continue his research in Brazil. He died there in 1967.

In the early 1960s, major studies in the medical uses of hydrogen peroxide were conducted at the Baylor University Medical Center in Texas. In an early study involving cancer, researchers found that cells containing a high amount of oxygen responded more favorably to radiation therapy than ordinary cells. Before that study, hyperbaric oxygen was often used by physicians to oxygenate the cells; in a rather cumbersome and expensive method using a specially built oxygen chamber, oxygen was delivered under pressure greater than normal atmospheric pressure. However, the doctors at Baylor found that small amounts of hydrogen peroxide injected into a vein could achieve the same effect as hyperbaric oxygen at a much lower cost and with fewer adverse side effects.

The Baylor researchers also discovered that hydrogen peroxide has an energizing effect on the heart muscle that could be of great benefit to patients suffering heart attacks. Myocardial ischemia, or lack of oxygen to the heart muscle, was relieved with hydrogen peroxide. Writing in the journal Circulation, Dr. H. C. Urschel Jr., reported that ventricular fibrillation-a life-threatening condition involving extremely rapid, incomplete contractions of the ventricle area of the heart-was completely relieved through the intravenous administration of hydrogen peroxide.

The researchers at Baylor also studied the effect of intravenous hydrogen peroxide on the accumulation of plaque in the arteries. They found not only that hydrogen peroxide removed plaque buildup efficiently but also that its effects were long term. While those findings offered hope to individuals destined for expensive, dangerous, and often ineffective heart bypass operations, the Baylor studies were largely ignored by the medical establishment.

[sucahyo]

Thanks .

I don't see a reason why we have to consume it though. While it is important how do we know when we need to consume special quantity of it?

[shawn]

You don't, unless you are sick.
Then it can prove to be very handy.
But it is not something one would use daily or in ignorance.
One needs to have some knowledge so as to follow proper protocols.
More knowledge is better in this case.

[sucahyo]

I see. Thanks.

But seeing many method to cure people posted here. I guess eating is something that can be done last..

[shawn]

I have read in an old copy of the "Lancet", about some British doctors in India who used H2O2 as a last resort in patients dying of malaria and other disease.
They would inject a small amount directly into their veins. The had very good results with this method.
This, of course, is not something that the average layman would attempt, as it requires even more advanced knowledge.
But, as research, it is good to know, as the individual is ultimately the one who is responsible for their own health, and not the doctors.
Each person should be their own physician and so spend time cultivating a field of knowledge in that area.

[sucahyo]

Agree .