Safety issues in water and supplements
Potential hazards with chlorine dioxide include poisoning and the risk of spontaneous ignition or explosion on contact with flammable materials.[47][48]
Chlorine dioxide is toxic, and limits on human exposure are required to ensure its safe use. The United States Environmental Protection Agency has set a maximum level of 0.8 mg/L for chlorine dioxide in drinking water.[49] The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), an agency of the United States Department of Labor, has set an 8-hour permissible exposure limit of 0.1 ppm in air (0.3 mg/m3) for people working with chlorine dioxide.[50]
Chlorine dioxide has been fraudulently and illegally marketed as an ingestible cure for a wide range of diseases, including childhood autism[51] and coronavirus.[52][53][54] Children who have been given enemas of chlorine dioxide as a supposed cure for childhood autism have suffered life-threatening ailments.[51] The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has stated that ingestion or other internal use of chlorine dioxide, outside of supervised oral rinsing using dilute concentrations, has no health benefits of any kind, and it should not be used internally for any reason.[55][56]
Pseudomedicine
Main article: Miracle Mineral Supplement
On 30 July and 1 October 2010, the United States Food and Drug Administration warned against the use of the product "Miracle Mineral Supplement", or "MMS", which when prepared according to the instructions produces chlorine dioxide. MMS has been marketed as a treatment for a variety of conditions, including HIV, cancer, autism, acne, and, more recently, COVID-19. Many have complained to the FDA, reporting life-threatening reactions,[57] and even death.[58] The FDA has warned consumers that MMS can cause serious harm to health, and stated that it has received numerous reports of nausea, diarrhea, severe vomiting, and life-threatening low blood pressure caused by dehydration.[59][60] This warning was repeated for a third time on 12 August 2019, and a fourth on 8 April 2020, stating that ingesting MMS is just as hazardous as ingesting bleach, and urging consumers not to use them or give these products to their children for any reason, as there is no scientific evidence showing that chlorine dioxide has any beneficial medical properties.[61][56]