From: Judy Seigel (jseigel@panix.com)
Date: 02/27/01-11:30:48 PM Z
Following was sent me by fellow who's a Ph.D chemist.... with permission
to forward. (PhD chemist sounds so much better than, say, PhD in English,
don't you think?)
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Hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) is a strong oxidizer and as such certainly could
act as a bleaching agent in some processes. The drugstore strength (3%) is
a mild disinfectant. At 3%, hydrogen peroxide is gentle compared to many
other antiseptics, but it kills bacteria well. The foaming you see is
oxygen being released as two molecules of H2O2 break down into two
molecules of H2O (water) and one molecule of O2 (oxygen gas). However, one
caution! The 30-50% variety available from chemical distributors is
unstable and very dangerous stuff. It is highly corrosive, and builds
pressure in a sealed bottle. I use 30% hydrogen peroxide in my research
(pharmaceutical manufacturing) and store it refrigerated in a vented
bottle. Concentrated H2O2 should be treated with great respect and best
avoided unless absolutely required. Mixing strong hydrogen peroxide with
organics or flammables can cause fires and explosions.
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