Editing Hydrogen peroxide (section)

==Safety==
[[File:Hydrogen peroxide 35 percent on skin.jpg|thumb|alt=Fingertips|Skin shortly after exposure to 35% {{chem2|H2O2}}]]
Regulations vary, but low concentrations, such as 5%, are widely available and legal to buy for medical use. Most over-the-counter peroxide solutions are not suitable for ingestion. Higher concentrations may be considered hazardous and typically are accompanied by a [[safety data sheet]] (SDS). In high concentrations, hydrogen peroxide is an aggressive oxidizer and will corrode many materials, including human skin. In the presence of a [[reducing agent]], high concentrations of {{chem2|H2O2}} will react violently.<ref>{{cite web| url=https://ntrs.nasa.gov/archive/nasa/casi.ntrs.nasa.gov/20050217417.pdf| title=Hydrogen Peroxide Accidents and Incidents: What we can learn from history| publisher=NASA| vauthors = Greene B, Baker D, Frazier W |access-date=6 April 2019| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190406223209/https://ntrs.nasa.gov/archive/nasa/casi.ntrs.nasa.gov/20050217417.pdf| archive-date=6 April 2019| url-status=live}}</ref>
While concentrations up to 35% produce only "white" oxygen bubbles in the skin (and some biting pain) that disappear with the blood within 30–45 minutes, concentrations of 98% dissolve paper. However, concentrations as low as 3% can be dangerous for the eye because of [[oxygen evolution]] within the eye.<ref>see Hans Marquardt, Lehrbuch der Toxikologie</ref>

High-concentration hydrogen peroxide streams, typically above 40%, should be considered hazardous due to concentrated hydrogen peroxide's meeting the definition of a [[United States Department of Transportation|DOT]] oxidizer according to U.S. regulations if released into the environment. The [[United States Environmental Protection Agency|EPA]] Reportable Quantity (RQ) for D001 hazardous wastes is {{convert|100|lb|kg}}, or approximately {{convert|10|USgal|L}}, of concentrated hydrogen peroxide.
[[File:Hydrogen Peroxide Bottle.jpg|thumb|A commercial bottle of H2O2]]
Hydrogen peroxide should be stored in a cool, dry, well-ventilated area and away from any flammable or combustible substances. It should be stored in a container composed of non-reactive materials such as stainless steel or glass (other materials including some plastics and aluminium alloys may also be suitable).<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.ozoneservices.com/articles/004.htm|title=Material Compatibility with Hydrogen Peroxide|access-date=3 March 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304043621/https://www.ozoneservices.com/articles/004.htm|archive-date=4 March 2016|url-status=dead}}</ref> As it breaks down quickly when exposed to light, it should be stored in an opaque container, and pharmaceutical formulations typically come in brown bottles that block light.<ref>{{cite web |url = https://www.hydrogenperoxidemouthwash.org/ |title = Hydrogen Peroxide Mouthwash is it Safe? |access-date = 30 October 2013 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20131220023527/https://www.hydrogenperoxidemouthwash.org/ |archive-date = 20 December 2013 |url-status = dead}}</ref>

Hydrogen peroxide, either in pure or diluted form, may pose several risks, the main one being that it forms explosive mixtures upon contact with organic compounds.<ref name="osha safety guidelines"/> [[Distillation]] of hydrogen peroxide at normal pressures is highly dangerous. It is corrosive, especially when concentrated, but even domestic-strength solutions may cause irritation to the eyes, [[mucous membrane]]s, and skin.<ref name="hazards">For example, see an {{cite web |url=https://hazard.com/msds/mf/baker/baker/files/h4070.htm |title=MSDS for a 3% peroxide solution |url-status=usurped |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120415061436/https://hazard.com/msds/mf/baker/baker/files/h4070.htm |archive-date=15 April 2012}}</ref> Swallowing hydrogen peroxide solutions is particularly dangerous, as decomposition in the stomach releases large quantities of gas (ten times the volume of a 3% solution), leading to internal bloating. Inhaling over 10% can cause severe pulmonary irritation.<ref name="atsdr toxic facts">[https://www.atsdr.cdc.gov/toxfaqs/tfacts174.pdf H<sub>2</sub>O<sub>2</sub> toxicity and dangers] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120605150238/https://www.atsdr.cdc.gov/toxfaqs/tfacts174.pdf |date=5 June 2012}} [[Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry]] website</ref>

With a significant vapour pressure (1.2&nbsp;kPa at 50&nbsp;°C),<ref>CRC Handbook of Chemistry and Physics, 76th Ed, 1995–1996</ref> hydrogen peroxide vapour is potentially hazardous. According to U.S. NIOSH, the [[immediately dangerous to life and health]] (IDLH) limit is only 75&nbsp;ppm.<ref name="dangerous concentrations">{{cite web|url=https://www.cdc.gov/niosh/idlh/intridl4.html|title=CDC — Immediately Dangerous to Life or Health Concentrations (IDLH): Chemical Listing and Documentation of Revised IDLH Values — NIOSH Publications and Products|access-date=20 October 2018|date=25 October 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121117012820/https://www.cdc.gov/niosh/idlh/intridl4.html|archive-date=17 November 2012|url-status=live}}</ref> The U.S. [[Occupational Safety and Health Administration]] (OSHA) has established a permissible exposure limit of 1.0&nbsp;ppm calculated as an 8-hour time-weighted average (29 CFR 1910.1000, Table Z-1).<ref name="osha safety guidelines">{{cite web|url=https://www.osha.gov/SLTC/healthguidelines/hydrogenperoxide/recognition.html|title=Occupational Safety and Health Guideline for Hydrogen Peroxide|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130513085633/https://www.osha.gov/SLTC/healthguidelines/hydrogenperoxide/recognition.html|archive-date=13 May 2013}}</ref> Hydrogen peroxide has been classified by the [[American Conference of Governmental Industrial Hygienists]] (ACGIH) as a "known animal carcinogen, with unknown relevance on humans".<ref name="carcinogen">{{cite web|url=https://www2.worksafebc.com/PDFs/regulation/exposure_limits.pdf|title=Threshold Limit Values for Chemical Substances and Physical Agents & Biological Exposure Indices, ACGIH|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130602121656/https://www2.worksafebc.com/PDFs/regulation/exposure_limits.pdf|archive-date=2 June 2013}}</ref> For workplaces where there is a risk of exposure to the hazardous concentrations of the vapours, continuous monitors for hydrogen peroxide should be used. Information on the hazards of hydrogen peroxide is available from OSHA<ref name="osha safety guidelines"/> and from the ATSDR.<ref name="atsdr toxic substance">{{cite web|url=https://www.atsdr.cdc.gov/MHMI/mmg174.html|title=ATSDR — Redirect — MMG: Hydrogen Peroxide|access-date=3 March 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160303221446/https://www.atsdr.cdc.gov/MHMI/mmg174.html|archive-date=3 March 2016|url-status=dead}}</ref>

===Wound healing===
Historically, hydrogen peroxide was used for disinfecting wounds, partly because of its low cost and prompt availability compared to other [[antiseptic]]s.<ref>{{cite journal |vauthors = Wilgus TA, Bergdall VK, Dipietro LA, Oberyszyn TM |title = Hydrogen peroxide disrupts scarless fetal wound repair |journal = Wound Repair and Regeneration |volume = 13 |issue = 5 |pages = 513–9 |year = 2005 |pmid = 16176460 |doi = 10.1111/j.1067-1927.2005.00072.x |s2cid = 1028923}}</ref>

There is conflicting evidence on hydrogen peroxide's effect on wound healing. Some research finds benefit, while other research find delays and healing inhibition.<ref>{{cite journal |vauthors = Urban MV, Rath T, Radtke C |title = Hydrogen peroxide (H<sub>2</sub>O<sub>2</sub>): a review of its use in surgery |journal = Wiener Medizinische Wochenschrift |volume = 169 |issue = 9–10 |pages = 222–5 |date = June 2019 |pmid = 29147868 |doi = 10.1007/s10354-017-0610-2 |s2cid = 35739209}}</ref> Its use for home treatment of wounds is generally not recommended.<ref name="Don't use hydrogen peroxide on wounds">{{cite web|url=https://health.clevelandclinic.org/what-is-hydrogen-peroxide-good-for/|title=Cleveleand Clinic: What Is Hydrogen Peroxide Good For?|date=December 2021 |access-date=25 August 2022}}</ref>
1.5–3% hydrogen peroxide is used as a disinfectant in dentistry, especially in endodotic treatments together with hypochlorite and chlorhexidine and 1–1.5% is also useful for treatment of inflammation of third molars (wisdom teeth).<ref>see e.g. Detlev Heidemann, Endodontie, Urban&Fischer 2001</ref>

===Use in alternative medicine===
Practitioners of [[alternative medicine]] have advocated the use of hydrogen peroxide for various conditions, including [[emphysema]], [[influenza]], [[AIDS]], and in particular [[cancer]].<ref>{{cite book| vauthors = Douglass WC |title=Hydrogen peroxide : medical miracle|date=1995|publisher=Second Opinion Pub.|location=Atlanta, GA|isbn=978-1-885236-07-4}}</ref> There is no evidence of effectiveness and in some cases it has proved fatal.<ref name="largeOral">[https://web.archive.org/web/20020820074823/https://www.sefsc.noaa.gov/HTMLdocs/HydrogenPeroxide3.htm Hydrogen Peroxide, 3%. 3. Hazards Identification] Southeast Fisheries Science Center, daughter agency of [[NOAA]].</ref><ref name="baddrink">{{cite journal |vauthors = |title = Questionable methods of cancer management: hydrogen peroxide and other 'hyperoxygenation' therapies |journal = CA: A Cancer Journal for Clinicians |volume = 43 |issue = 1 |pages = 47–56 |year = 1993 |pmid = 8422605 |doi = 10.3322/canjclin.43.1.47 |s2cid = 36911297 |doi-access = free}}</ref><ref name="snopesH2O2">{{cite web| vauthors = Mikkelson B |title=Hydrogen Peroxide|url=https://www.snopes.com/medical/healthyself/peroxide.asp|website=Snopes.com|date=30 April 2006|access-date=7 July 2007|archive-date=15 February 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220215183404/https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/hydrogen-peroxide/|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="lethalInjection">{{cite web |url=https://www.thedenverchannel.com/news/naturopath-sentenced-for-injecting-teen-with-hydrogen-peroxide |title=Naturopath Sentenced For Injecting Teen With Hydrogen Peroxide — 7NEWS Denver |publisher=Thedenverchannel.com |date=2006-03-27 |access-date=2015-02-14 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140320012431/https://www.thedenverchannel.com/news/naturopath-sentenced-for-injecting-teen-with-hydrogen-peroxide |archive-date=20 March 2014 |url-status=dead}}</ref>

Both the effectiveness and safety of hydrogen peroxide therapy is scientifically questionable. Hydrogen peroxide is produced by the immune system, but in a carefully controlled manner. Cells called [[phagocyte]]s engulf pathogens and then use hydrogen peroxide to destroy them. The peroxide is toxic to both the cell and the pathogen and so is kept within a special compartment, called a [[phagosome]]. Free hydrogen peroxide will damage any tissue it encounters via [[oxidative stress]], a process that also has been proposed as a cause of cancer.<ref>{{cite journal |vauthors = Halliwell B |title = Oxidative stress and cancer: have we moved forward? |journal = The Biochemical Journal |volume = 401 |issue = 1 |pages = 1–11 |date = January 2007 |pmid = 17150040 |doi = 10.1042/BJ20061131 |s2cid = 850978}}</ref>
Claims that hydrogen peroxide therapy increases cellular levels of oxygen have not been supported. The quantities administered would be expected to provide very little additional oxygen compared to that available from normal respiration. It is also difficult to raise the level of oxygen around cancer cells within a tumour, as the blood supply tends to be poor, a situation known as [[tumor hypoxia]].

Large oral doses of hydrogen peroxide at a 3% concentration may cause irritation and blistering to the mouth, throat, and abdomen as well as abdominal pain, vomiting, and diarrhea.<ref name="largeOral"/> Ingestion of hydrogen peroxide at concentrations of 35% or higher has been implicated as the cause of numerous [[Air embolism|gas embolism]] events resulting in hospitalisation. In these cases, [[Hyperbaric medicine|hyperbaric oxygen therapy]] was used to treat the embolisms.<ref>{{cite journal |vauthors = French LK, Horowitz BZ, McKeown NJ |title = Hydrogen peroxide ingestion associated with portal venous gas and treatment with hyperbaric oxygen: a case series and review of the literature |journal = Clinical Toxicology |volume = 48 |issue = 6 |pages = 533–8 |date = July 2010 |pmid = 20575671 |doi = 10.3109/15563650.2010.492526 |s2cid = 25148041 }}</ref>

[[Intravenous therapy|Intravenous injection]] of hydrogen peroxide has been linked to several deaths.<ref name="deaths">{{cite news| vauthors = Cooper A |title=A Prescription for Death?|work=CBS News|date=12 January 2005|url=https://www.cbsnews.com/news/a-prescription-for-death/|access-date=7 July 2007|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070717085909/https://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2005/01/12/60II/main666489.shtml|archive-date=17 July 2007|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="snopesH2O2"/><ref name="lethalInjection"/>
The [[American Cancer Society]] states that "there is no scientific evidence that hydrogen peroxide is a safe, effective, or useful cancer treatment."<ref name="baddrink"/> Furthermore, the therapy is not approved by the U.S. FDA.

===Historical incidents===
* On 16 July 1934, in [[Kummersdorf]], Germany, a propellant tank containing an experimental monopropellant mixture consisting of hydrogen peroxide and [[ethanol]] exploded during a test, killing three people.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.urbex.nl/heeresversuchsstelle-kummersdorf/|title=Heeresversuchsstelle Kummersdorf |date=2008-03-23|work=UrbEx — Forgotten & Abandoned|access-date=2018-06-01|language=en-US|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180629160812/https://www.urbex.nl/heeresversuchsstelle-kummersdorf/|archive-date=29 June 2018|url-status=live}}</ref>
* During the [[World War II|Second World War]], doctors in [[Nazi concentration camps|German concentration camps]] experimented with the use of hydrogen peroxide injections in the killing of human subjects.<ref>{{cite web |title=The Nazi Doctors: Medical Killing and the Psychology of Genocide |publisher=Robert Jay Lifton |url=https://phdn.org/archives/holocaust-history.org/lifton/LiftonT257.shtml |access-date=26 June 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180627005245/https://phdn.org/archives/holocaust-history.org/lifton/LiftonT257.shtml |archive-date=27 June 2018 |url-status=live}}</ref>
* In December 1943, the pilot [[Josef Pöhs]] died after being exposed to the [[T-Stoff]] of his [[Messerschmitt Me 163]].
* In June 1955, Royal Navy submarine [[HMS Sidon (P259)#Accident|HMS ''Sidon'']] sank after leaking high-test peroxide in a torpedo caused it to explode in its tube, killing twelve crew members; a member of the rescue party also succumbed.
* In April 1992, an explosion occurred at the hydrogen peroxide plant at [[Jarrie]] in France, due to technical failure of the computerised control system and resulting in one fatality and wide destruction of the plant.<ref>{{cite web|date=November 2007|title=Explosion and fire in a hydrogen peroxide plant|url=https://www.aria.developpement-durable.gouv.fr/fiche_detaillee/3536_en/?lang=en|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220214154800/https://www.aria.developpement-durable.gouv.fr/fiche_detaillee/3536_en/?lang=en|archive-date=14 February 2022|publisher=ARIA}}</ref>
* Several people received minor injuries after a hydrogen peroxide spill on board a [[Northwest Airlines]] flight from [[Orlando, Florida]] to [[Memphis, Tennessee]] on 28 October 1998.<ref>{{cite web|title=Accident No: DCA-99-MZ-001|url=https://www.ntsb.gov/investigations/AccidentReports/Reports/HZB0001.pdf|publisher=U.S. National Transportation Safety Board|access-date=30 October 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151103025027/https://www.ntsb.gov/investigations/AccidentReports/Reports/HZB0001.pdf|archive-date=3 November 2015|url-status=live}}</ref>
* The Russian submarine [[Russian submarine Kursk (K-141)|K-141 ''Kursk'']] sailed to perform an exercise of firing dummy torpedoes at the ''[[Russian battlecruiser Pyotr Velikiy|Pyotr Velikiy]]'', a [[Kirov-class battlecruiser|''Kirov''-class battlecruiser]]. On 12 August 2000, at 11:28 local time (07:28 UTC), [[Kursk submarine disaster|there was an explosion]] while preparing to fire the torpedoes. The only credible report to date is that this was due to the failure and explosion of one of the ''Kursk'''s hydrogen peroxide-fueled torpedoes. It is believed that [[High test peroxide|HTP]], a form of highly concentrated hydrogen peroxide used as propellant for the torpedo, seeped through its container, damaged either by rust or in the loading procedure on land where an incident involving one of the torpedoes accidentally touching ground went unreported. The vessel was lost with all hands.<ref>{{Cite web| vauthors = Mizokami K |date=28 September 2018|title=The True Story of the Russian Kursk Submarine Disaster|url=https://www.popularmechanics.com/military/navy-ships/a23494010/kursk-submarine-disaster/|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20220214155136/https://www.popularmechanics.com/military/navy-ships/a23494010/kursk-submarine-disaster/ |archive-date=14 February 2022}}</ref>
* On 15 August 2010, a spill of about {{convert|30|USgal|L}} of cleaning fluid occurred on the 54th floor of 1515 Broadway, in [[Times Square]], [[New York City]]. The spill, which a spokesperson for the [[New York City Fire Department]] said was of hydrogen peroxide, shut down Broadway between West 42nd and West 48th streets as fire engines responded to the [[HAZMAT|hazmat]] situation. There were no reported injuries.<ref>{{cite news|title=Bleach Spill Shuts Part of Times Square|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2010/08/16/nyregion/16square.html|date=16 August 2010|work=The New York Times| vauthors = Wheaton S |access-date=24 February 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171201132854/https://www.nytimes.com/2010/08/16/nyregion/16square.html|archive-date=1 December 2017|url-status=live}}</ref>