Monthly Archives: Aug 2016

MMS and CD chemistry – the facts

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The TL:DR version.

The TL:DR version.

About a year ago I wrote a post on the subject of MMS and CD. Many people have since praised that post, but others have complained that it’s rather long (it is) and contains too much opinion.

I believe that anyone that wants them should have easy access to the facts on this subject, and not just the information provided by proponents of MMS/CD use.

With this in mind I’ve written this post as a summary of the basics. I ask only that you credit me if you use this to write an article. A mention of my Twitter account, @chronicleflask, or a link to this page will suffice.

What is MMS?

miracle-mineral-solution-220

MMS is usually sold as water purification drops

MMS stands for ‘master mineral solution’ or sometimes ‘miracle mineral solution’. It is a 22.4% solution of sodium chlorite in water. Sodium chlorite has the chemical formula NaClO2. So, MMS is 22.4 grams of NaClO2 dissolved in 100 mls of water. Sodium chlorite/MMS does not, on its own, act as a bleach.

Sodium chlorite’s LD50 (for rats) is 350 mg/kg. This means that, on average, if you feed rats 350 mg of it per kg of body weight, half the rats will die. If we assume its toxicity is similar in humans (and there’s no reason it should not be) that means that 5.25 grams would probably be enough to kill an average 4-year-old child weighing about 15 kg.

MMS is usually sold as ‘water purification drops’. Search for ‘sodium chlorite water purification’ in Google and you will quickly find it (usually alongside an ‘activator’ solution). Bottles for sale are usually 4 oz, or 114 mls. One quarter of one of these bottles would probably be lethal to a 15 kg 4-year-old.

What is CD (or CDS)?

CD is chlorine dioxide (and CDS stands for chlorine dioxide solution). Chlorine dioxide is ClO2. It is a bleach, used industrially to bleach wood pulp. It is also used to purify water and kill pathogens on certain foodstuffs. It is considered more effective than plain chlorine for water purification – it’s less corrosive and is particularly good at destroying legionella bacteria, as well as many viruses and protozoa.

Chlorine dioxide is more toxic than sodium chlorite. It’s LD50 is 292 mg/kg (the lower the number, the more toxic something is). For this reason, the concentrations used in food/water applications are very low. The US Environmental Protection Agency have set a maximum level of 0.8 mg/L chlorine dioxide in drinking water. That’s 0.00008 grams per 100 ml of water.

What’s the connection between MMS and CDS?

The chemistry of sodium chlorite (the substance in MMS) with acids.

The chemistry of sodium chlorite (the substance in MMS) with acids.

Chlorine dioxide evaporates quickly from solution, which means CD solutions cannot be stored – they have be made freshly as they’re needed. When sodium chlorite is mixed with an acid, usually citric acid (the acid in oranges and lemons), it forms chlorine dioxide. In short:

MMS + acid = CDS.

The chemistry behind this is complicated. It’s simpler if the acid used is hydrochloric acid (HCl), and this particular method of ‘activation’ is sometimes recommended by proponents of MMS/CD use.

If sodium chlorite is mixed with citric acid is used the reaction doesn’t happen in one step. Rather, chlorous acid (HClO2) forms, which ultimately breaks down to form ClO2. Several reactions are involved in this process. The concentration of chlorine dioxide in a solution made in this way is likely to be lower than if hydrochloric acid is used. However, it’s important to realise the the resulting solution is a mixture of harmful substances. Less chlorine dioxide does not necessarily mean safer.

How much chlorine dioxide forms when MMS is ‘activated’?

It’s not possible to answer this precisely, because it depends on several different factors. To begin with, it depends on whether hydrochloric acid or another acid (such as citric acid) is used. It further depends on temperature, and how much acid is added. We have no way of knowing exactly what someone mixing up these solutions at home is doing.

A document on acidified sodium chlorite published by the Joint Expert Committee on Food Additives (JECFA) suggests that, at a pH of 2.3, a 50 ppm solution of sodium chlorite would produce 16 ppm chlorous acid (less at higher pHs). Starting with a 22.4% solution (as in MMS), and allowing for the stoichiometry suggested by the equations above, this could produce something in the region of 36 g of chlorine dioxide per litre of water.

The US EPA’s recommended safe limit for chlorine dioxide is 0.0008 grams per litre of water. Compare this to 36 grams per litre. Even if only a fraction is converted to chlorine dioxide, the resulting mixture is likely to be tens of thousands in excess of safe limits.

How are CD solutions used in food & drink production?

Very dilute solutions, with just a few ppm of chlorine dioxide, are used as sprays or dipping solutions for poultry, meats, vegetables fruit and seafood. However, in these applications the chlorine dioxide evaporates from the food long before anyone eats it – it’s not present in the final food product. Chlorine dioxide is also used in water treatment plants, but the concentration in the final water supply is strictly controlled so that it’s less than the recommended safe limits.

How are CD solutions used as ‘alternative treatments’?

There are groups of people who believe that drinking CD solutions, or using them to perform enemas can cure any and all diseases, illnesses and conditions. However, there is no evidence that CDS is at all efficacious, and no reasonable mechanism has ever been given for its supposed mode of action. Jim Humble, who coined the name MMS ten years ago and sparked the use of these ‘treatments’, claimed that he worked with the Red Cross to successfully treat a group of malaria patients in Uganda. The Red Cross strenuously deny these claims. Other commentators have explained very clearly why Humble’s claims are impossible.

There is a large group online, led by Kerri Rivera, who believe that CD solutions can cure autism. This is not true. Autism is a neurodevelopment disorder. There is no cure, although certain therapies may help those on the autistic spectrum to manage better in day-to-day life. The cause of autism is unclear, but it appears to have a strong genetic basis.

Humble and Rivera advocate drinking CD solutions and/or using them in enemas. Protocols for such treatments involve adding drops of CDS to water, milk or other liquids.

The number of drops used varies. Humble reportedly used 18 drops at a time in his malaria treatment. Usually this is added to further liquid, for example in a 250 ml bottle. Assuming a drop is 0.1 mls, this could be as much as 0.065 g of chlorine dioxide in 250 mls, or 0.26 grams per litre. Once again, US EPA’s recommended safe limit for chlorine dioxide is 0.00008 grams per litre.

The amounts recommended by MMS/CD protocols are likely to be at least 3000 times safe limits, and may be considerably more. Protocols exist which recommend drinking these mixtures every one or two hours, eight times a day or even more.

What would happen if someone drank a CD solution?

It would be ironic if it weren't so tragic.

Chlorine dioxide exposure may actually cause delays in the development of the brain.

It would depend on the concentration. The very low levels used in normal water purification are not harmful (that’s why safe limits exist), however drinking large amounts (such as those usually recommended in MMS/CD protocols) would cause irritation to the mouth, oesophagus, and stomach. There is no evidence that chlorine dioxide causes cancer. The ATSDR‘s (Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry) entry for chlorine dioxide says that “studies in rats have shown that exposure of pregnant animals to chlorine dioxide or exposure of pups shortly after birth can cause delays in the development of the brain” (see also PMID: 2213920).

Why are CDS enemas used, and what would be the effect?

Rivera in particular advocates CDS enemas to kill the ‘parasites’ which she and her followers believe cause autism. There is no evidence for the existence of these ‘parasites’. Photos published online which purport to show them have been condemned as actually showing intestinal lining and mucus, excreted as the direct result of harsh enema procedures.

Enemas, regardless of the liquid used, have risks. Repeated enemas can cause electrolyte imbalance, rupture of the bowel and damage to the rectal tissues. Enemas with CDS are likely to be particularly dangerous since it is corrosive. Proponents of CDS use claim it is ‘selective’ and only kills ‘harmful’ bacteria and parasites. This is not possible; chlorine dioxide is a strong oxidising agent and damages all cells it comes into contact with, regardless of the nature of those cells.

Children have thinner tissues than adults. The risks of regular enemas, particularly with a corrosive agent such as chlorine dioxide, and particularly when carried out at home by someone with no medical training, are likely to be considerably higher for children.

Is there any way to tell if someone has been using CDS in high concentrations?

Unless someone admits to using CDS, there isn’t really any way to tell. For this reason there are very few reported cases of harm caused by CDS, as users tend to be extremely secretive. Unless an enema causes major trauma (which is a real risk) the symptoms are likely to be fairly vague gastrointestinal distress, which could be caused by any number of other things. There is no routine medical test to measure chlorine dioxide or chlorite in the body. There is a special test to measure chlorite in tissues, blood, urine, and feces, but the test cannot tell the extent of the exposure or whether harmful effects will occur. This test wouldn’t be performed unless exposure was expected. In other words, unless someone admits to using CDS on themselves or their child, it’s unlikely anyone will ever find out.

Has MMS/CDS been in the news?

Yes, on several occasions:

If there’s no cure for autism/cancer/some other condition, mightn’t it be worth trying…?

Medicine is all about risks vs. benefits. The benefit of using a particular treatment must always exceed the risk of using that treatment. In this case, there are no proven benefits of using MMS/CDS. There are considerable risks, as described above. The only thing MMS/CDS will do is make you feel sick and generally more unwell than you (or your child) might already. So no, it isn’t worth trying. Please don’t.

Comments will be left open on this page for as long as it takes for me to tire of dealing with “you’re a pharma shill!”, “this is all lies!”, “watch this YouTube video that proves it works!” and “I drink it every day and I’m fine!” type comments. Annnnd that’s it. The most recent “you’re clearly paid off by corporations” comment has been deleted. Comments have been closed. Don’t go and comment on other pages: your comment will not be approved.

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Puzzling pool problems?

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We’re half way thorough the Rio 2016 Olypics, and it will have escaped no one’s notice that there have been a few little problems with one of the pools.

Maria Lenk Aquatic Enter, Tuesday, Aug. 9, 2016. (AP Photo/Matt Dunham)

Maria Lenk Aquatic Enter, Tuesday, Aug. 9, 2016. (AP Photo/Matt Dunham)

First, the water turned a mysterious green colour. Then there were reports of a ‘sulfurous’ smell, with German diver Stephan Feck reported as saying it smelled like a “fart”.

The diving pool seemed to be the worst affected, but the water-polo pool next to it also suffered problems, and competitors complained of stinging eyes.

So what on earth was happening? An early suggestion was that copper salts were contaminating the water. It’s not unheard of for copper compounds to get into water supplies, and it would certainly explain the colour; copper chloride solutions in particular are famously greeny-blue. But what about that sulfurous smell? Copper chloride doesn’t smell of sulfur.

Was the strange pool colour due to algae bloom?

Was the strange pool colour due to an algae bloom, like this one in Lake Erie?

The most likely culprit was some sort of algae bloom – in other words rapid algae growth – with the smell probably coming from dimethyl sulfide, or DMS. There’s a singled-celled phytoplankton called Emiliania huxleyi which is particularly famous for producing this smelly compound. In fact, it actually has more than one very important role in nature: the smell is thought to alert marine life that there’s food nearby, but it also seeps into the atmosphere and helps with cloud formation, helping to control our planet’s temperature. Without these reactions, Earth might not be nearly so habitable.

But how did algae manage to grow in the pool? The pool chemicals should have prevented it, so what had happened? An Olympic official then went on to make the comment that “chemistry is not an exact science,” which of course led to much hilarity all around. Chemistry is, after all, incredibly exact. What chemistry student doesn’t remember all those calculations, with answers to three significant figures? The endless balancing of equations? The careful addition of one solution to another, drop by drop? How much more ‘exact’ would you like it to be?

But I had a bit of sympathy with the official, because I suspect that what they actually meant – if not said – was that swimming pool chemistry is not an exact science. And while that, too, is hardly accurate, it is true that swimming pool chemistry is very complicated and things can easily go wrong, particularly when you’re trying to work on an extremely tight schedule. They could hardly, after all, close down all the pools and spend several days carrying out extensive testing in the middle of the sixteen-day-long Olympic Games.

Rio 2016 Olympics Aquatics Stadium (Image: Myrtha Pools)

Rio 2016 Olympics Aquatics Stadium (Image: Myrtha Pools)

When a pool is first built and filled, things are, theoretically, simple. You know exactly how many cubic litres of water there are, and you know exactly how much of each chemical needs to be added to keep the water free of bacteria and other nasties. Those chemicals are added, possibly (particularly in a pool this size) via some kind of automated system, and the pH is carefully monitored to ensure the water is neither too alkaline (basic) nor too acidic.

There’s a certain amount of proprietary variation of swimming pool chemicals, but it essentially all comes down to chlorine, which has been used to make water safe now for over 120 years.

Originally, water was treated to make it alkaline and then chlorine gas itself was added. This produced compounds which killed bacteria, in particular sodium hypochlorite, but the practice was risky. Chlorine gas is extremely nasty stuff – it has, after all, been used as a chemical weapon – and storing it, not to mention actually using it, was a dangerous business.

However, hundreds of people swimming in untreated water is a recipe for catching all kinds of water-borne disease, so it wasn’t long before alternatives were developed.

The Chemistry of Swimming Pools (Image: Compound Interest - click for more info)

The Chemistry of Swimming Pools (Image: Compound Interest – click graphic for more info)

Those alternatives made use of the chemistry that was happening anyway in the water, but  allowed the dangerous bit, with the elemental chlorine, to happen somewhere else. And so hypochlorite salts began to be manufactured to be used in swimming pools.

As the lovely graphic from Compound Interest illustrates, sodium hypochlorite reacts with water to form hypochlorous acid, which in turn goes on to form hypochlorite ions. These two substances sit in an equilibrium, and both are oxidants, which is good because oxidants are good at blasting bacteria. The equilibria in question are affected by pH though, which is one reason why, quite apart from the potential effects on swimmers, it’s so important to manage the pH of pool water.

There are a couple of different chemicals which can be added to adjust pH. Sodium bicarbonate, for example, can be used to nudge the pH up if needed. On the other hand, sodium bisulfate can be used to lower pH if the water becomes too alkaline.

Open-air pools have particular problems

UV light breaks down the chemicals that are used to keep swimming pool water clean.

This can all be managed extremely precisely in an unused, enclosed pool. But once you open that pool up, things become less simple. Open-air pools have a particular problem with UV light. Chlorine compounds are often sensitive to UV – this is why CFCs are such a problem for the ozone layer – and hypochlorite is no exception. In the presence of UV it breaks down in a process called photolysis to form chloride ions and oxygen. This means that outdoor pools require more frequent treatments, or the addition of extra chemicals to stabilise the ‘free available chlorine’ (FAC) levels.

Sadly, I haven’t managed to make it over to Rio, but from what I’ve seen the Aquatic Centre has a roof which opens up, which means that the pool water is indeed being exposed to UV light.

So perhaps the chemical levels simply dropped too low, which allowed algae to proliferate? Possibly aggravated by environmental conditions? Indeed, initially this seemed to be the explanation. FINA, the international governing body of aquatics, issued a statement on Wednesday afternoon which said:

“FINA can confirm that the reason for the unusual water color observed during the Rio diving competitions is that the water tanks ran out of some of the chemicals used in the water treatment process. As a result, the pH level of the water was outside the usual range, causing the discoloration. The FINA Sport Medicine Committee conducted tests on the water quality and concluded that there was no risk to the health and safety of the athletes, and no reason for the competition to be affected.”

This prompted people to wonder how on earth chemical levels were allowed to run out in an event as significant as the Olympics – did someone forget to click send on the order? – but still, it seemed to explain what had happened.

FINA issued a new statement

FINA issued a new statement on Sunday

Until today (Sunday), when more information surfaced as Olympic officials announced that they were going to drain at least one of the swimming pools and refill it. This is no small feat and will involve considerable cost: after all, we’re talking about millions of gallons of water. But it seems to be necessary. As Rio 2016’s director of venue management Gustavo Nascimento said:

“On the day of the Opening Ceremonies of the Games, 80 litres of hydrogen peroxide was put in the water. This creates a reaction to the chlorine which neutralises the ability of the chlorine to kill organics. This is not a problem for the health of anyone.”

Whoops. Yes indeed. Hydrogen peroxide reacts with chlorine to produce oxygen and hydrochloric acid. In fact, hydrogen peroxide is actually used to dechlorinate water which contains levels of chlorine that are too high. It might not be the very worst thing you could add to the water (when you think of all the things that could end up swimming pools) but it’s definitely up there.

Why and how this happened doesn’t, at the moment, appear to be clear. Presumably someone is for the high jump, and not just on the athletics field.

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