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I’ve written a few times about MMS. Rather than the long articles on specific topics, I feel it’s appropriate to make a simple, short statement:

MMS, aka Miracle Mineral Solution, aka CD, aka chlorine dioxide is bogus. It’s junk. Worse than that, it’s abusive. Yes, you will find segments of the autism-parent community who promote and use it. But that doesn’t make it actually useful, nor does it make it OK to use.

Here’s the thing–it’s a bleach solution. The idea that this can work to “detoxify” or “kill parasites” is just flat out wrong.

The Autism Research Institute (ARI), a group which has promoted unproven alternative treatments for autism throughout its history, has this to say:

Given these issues, we advise against using MMS at this time. We hope parents will remain critical of unsubstantiated claims that children have recovered or greatly improved in the absence of objective proof. We also strongly encourage any parents who choose to administer MMS to their children to report it to their physician so that side effects can be monitored.

If a group such as ARI, a group favorable to alt-med, comes out with such a strong statement, you know it’s time to question the “scientific” claims and testimonials.

As to why I call this abusive? Used as an enema (one method strongly promoted by MMS activists) it causes people to pass the lining of their intestines. You can find pictures of these “worms” on the web, where people claim they have killed a parasite. (This is just the worst use of MMS. Taken orally it is still abusive).

Again, from the ARI:

The mucous threads that children expel during MMS treatment, which have been touted as worms (though laboratory analysis does not support this claim), are the body’s method of protecting itself from induced oxidative stress in the lower digestive tract equivalent to the mid-day sun in its ability to produce severe sunburn.

Seriously, what else can one call pushing chemicals into disabled children’s digestive tracts until they start passing tissues? Yes, parents subjecting their children to this are not doing so with the intent to abuse, but they are being fooled into a harmful act.

Since I keep getting commenters on this blog defending this practice, I felt the need to make this short and clear statement. MMS is bogus. It’s harmful.

Just don’t do it.
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By Matt Carey

One of the marketing ploys for MMS* is that it somehow attacks viruses, bacteria, parasites, heavy metals, toxins and more but doesn’t affect human tissue. It’s safe! Of course this is from the same people who said that it isn’t a bleach. Emily Willingham did a very simple and elegant demonstration that, MMS: Yes, It Is Bleach. Put a few drops on a black cloth and, lo an behold, it bleaches it.

I thought about taking this to the next step–putting some drops on raw meat to see how much tissue would be bleached. Then I thought, I wonder if there’s a study on this already? Consider this paper, Comparison of Organic Tissue Dissolution Capacities of Sodium Hypochlorite and Chlorine Dioxide (full paper here).

Organic tissue dissolution capacity. In other words: how well do these solutions dissolve tissue.

According to the main site promoting MMS as an autism cure:

What is MMS?

MMS stands for Master Mineral Solution. It’s chemical name is Chlorine Dioxide (ClO2). ClO2 is a gas that is produced as a result of combining 2 liquids, Sodium Chlorite (NaClO2) and citric acid. When added to the sodium chlorite, the citric acid brings the combined pH level to under five, causing the sodium chlorite to become unstable and release chorine dioxide. (ClO2) Chlorine dioxide is an oxidizer with a lower oxidation potential (.95 V) than any of the other oxidizers in the human body.

MMS starts out as sodium chlorite, not the hypochlorite as mentioned in the paper. But the final solution contains ClO2, the same as one tested in the above paper. In that paper they were exploring whether these solutions (sodium hypochlorite and ClO2) could be used in dental work. They wanted to test whether ClO2 solutions would have an effect on tissue, in this case the pulp from the inside of teeth. They already knew that sodium hypochlorite dissolved tissue.

What did they find? When they put tooth pulp (taken from cows) into these solutions, after 20 minutes about 28% of the tissue was dissolved.

Dissolved.

In ClO2 solution.

But wait, you say. That’s a paper using cow teeth, published in Turkey. Realizing that this argument would come up, I searched for more papers. Such as Effect of chlorine dioxide and sodium hypochlorite on the dissolution of human pulp tissue e An in vitro study. Which concludes

5% Chlorine dioxide is capable of dissolving human pulp tissue but sodium hypochlorite was more effective.

Or

Comparison of Organic Tissue Dissolution Capacities of NaOCl and ClO2

Conclusion: Within the limitations of this in vitro study, it was concluded that ClO2 is efficient as well as NaOCl in dissolving organic tissue.

Not all tissues are the same. Skin, especially the dead skin in the outer layer, is likely more resistant than tooth pulp. But, how about the intestinal lining (a consideration for those using this as an enema solution)? Or once absorbed in the stomach (for those taking an oral route) or the esophagus?

OK, it dissolves tissues. But why go to these papers? How about just looking at the MSDS? People have long brought out the MSDS for thimerosal to tell us that it should be removed from vaccines. The MSDS for thimerosal shows that the LD50 level (the exposure where 1/2 of the test animals died, lethal dose 50) is Acute oral toxicity (LD50): 75 mg/kg [Rat] for thimerosal. A chlorine dioxide solution of 0.054 weight% Chlorine Dioxide is less toxic than thimerosal, with an LD50 (oral) rats: 292 mg/kg. So, it would take about 4 times as much chlorine dioxide solution at this concentration to kill a rat as thimerosal.

The thing is, people don’t drink thimerosal solutions. Or do so repeatedly. People are encouraged to drink MMS.

Consider what happens if we increase the concentration of ClO2. Up the concentration to 3% ClO2 in water and it is as toxic as thimerosal. But, again, dose makes the poison and the dose of ClO2 from MMS is much higher than the dose of thimerosal from a vaccine.

The idea that MMS, or CD or Chlorine Dioxide is somehow a magical solution which rids the body of harmful substances while having no effect on human tissues is just flat out incorrect. It dissolves organic tissue. It’s toxic and the doses are significant.

(*MMS is “miracle mineral solution”, a relatively new bit of alternative medicine that is being sold as an autism cure. It has been promoted at parent conventions such as Autism One and by the blog The Age of Autism. It is a scam and if the discussion above wasn’t clear: it should be avoided.)

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By Matt Carey

A few years ago a new “treatment” appeared in the alternative medical world: MMS or Miracle Mineral Solution. As just criticism came out on this treatment, the name has morphed. One can now find it called CD (chlorine dioxide) or CDS (chlorine dioxide solution) or even the “parasite protocol). It goes by many names and it’s a scam. It is a well marketed scam and it’s taken in a lot of smart people. If you haven’t heard of it before you may be wondering what it is. Essentially, it’s a bleach (sodium chlorite) which is supposed to be mixed with a weak acid to make another bleach (chlorine dioxide). There are some effective marketing materials posing as scientific talks that use the classic alt-med sales techniques: testimonials and science-like discussions. In the autism world, this means claiming that it makes autistic kids non-autistic. Usually they avoid the “c” word (cure) because that is a quick way to get noticed by the people who are supposed to protect us from such scams.

MMS is sold often with a wink and a nod as a water purification solution. Such appears to be the case with a team charged with defrauding regulators and the sale of MMS as a cure or treatment. Per the press release below, it seems that this U.S. based team was importing their materials from Canada. At some point they “smuggled sodium chlorite into the United States from Canada using fraudulent invoices to hide the true end use of the product. In these invoices, according to the indictment, they falsely claimed that the ingredients they were purchasing for MMS were to be used in wastewater treatment facilities.” Their website shows them selling 4 ounce bottles of the solution. It would take a lot of those bottles to supply a wastewater treatment facility.

Here’s a point I haven’t seen made about MMS. One can purchase the base material, sodium chlorite, for about 50 cents a pound. Alibaba shows the liquid selling for $100-300 per metric ton. (click to enlarge)

But, let’s look at the website of this team selling the sodium chlorite solution. For only $20 you could get a 4-ounce bottle. That’s a savings of $5 off the regular price! Anyone want to do the calculations of how many 4-ounce bottles could be filled with a metric ton purchased for a few hundred dollars?

If one doesn’t want a ton shipped from China, Canada (where this team was sourcing their material) has sellers selling seven pound jars of the solid for $200. Not as big a profit margin as buying by the ton, but still a notable markup.

The “project green life” team point out that they are selling it as a water purification product only. If, by chance, you are planning on doing the “MMS protocol” they will provide you with information “for your safety and convenience”. And just in case, they have a one-stop shop in that they will sell you the second part of the MMS protocol, citric acid.

Wink. Nod. It’s just a water purification product, right? Sold at a huge profit. And for a small additional fee, one could also get the second part of the MMS product.

Apparently after this one team had their production facility inspected by the FDA, they moved production on to the property of one of their team members. There’s a silicon valley legend about companies starting in garages. It’s one thing for making electronics or computers. It’s another thing when we are talking about something sold (even with the wink) for human consumption.

Here is the press release from the Justice Department about when the charges were made.

Louis Daniel Smith, 42, and Karis Delong, 38, both of Ashland, Ore., were charged with defrauding regulators and suppliers in a scheme to manufacture and sell industrial bleach as a cure for numerous illnesses, including arthritis, cancer, and the seasonal flu. Also charged were Chris Olson, 49, and Tammy Olson, 50, of Nine Mile Falls, Wash. A federal grand jury returned an indictment, unsealed yesterday, charging Smith, Delong and Tammy Olson with one count of conspiracy, four counts of interstate sales of misbranded drugs, and one count of smuggling. The grand jury charged Chris Olson with one count of conspiracy, one count of the interstate sale of a misbranded drug and one count of smuggling.

The indictment alleges that Smith and Delong operated a business called “Project GreenLife” (PGL) from 2004 to 2011. PGL provided various health products for sale over the internet. According to the indictment, Smith and Delong arranged the manufacture and sale of the “Miracle Mineral Supplement” (MMS), a mixture of Sodium Chlorite and water. Sodium chlorite is not meant for human consumption. Suppliers of the chemical include a warning sheet with the chemical that states that it is harmful if swallowed.

According to the indictment, PGL provided consumers directions to combine MMS with citric acid to create Chlorine Dioxide, and the instructions told consumers to drink this mixture to cure numerous illnesses. Chlorine Dioxide is a potent agent used to bleach textiles, among other industrial applications. In humans, Chlorine Dioxide is a severe respiratory and eye irritant that can cause nausea, diarrhea and dehydration.

As part of the scheme to manufacture MMS, the indictment alleges that Smith, Delong, and others smuggled sodium chlorite into the United States from Canada using fraudulent invoices to hide the true end use of the product. In these invoices, according to the indictment, they falsely claimed that the ingredients they were purchasing for MMS were to be used in wastewater treatment facilities.

According to the charging documents, Smith and Delong were the managing members of PGL Smith co-founded the company, and Delong frequently handled financial transactions for the company and recruited friends and family to participate in the business. The indictment alleges that Smith and Delong paid Tammy Olson to handle all customer inquiries regarding the product. It is alleged that Tammy Olson continued selling MMS on her own website after federal agents shut down the Project GreenLife website and production facilities.

The indictment also alleges that Smith and Delong paid Chris Olson to clandestinely manufacture MMS in a building on his property after regulators from the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) inspected PGL’s original manufacture and shipping locations.

“The Department of Justice is committed to protecting the health and safety of people with cancer and other serious medical conditions,” said Stuart F. Delery, Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General for the Justice Department’s Civil Division. “Our most vulnerable citizens need real medicine – not dangerous chemicals peddled by modern-day snake oil salesmen.”

Charges contained in the indictment are simply accusations, and not evidence of guilt. Evidence supporting the charges must be presented to a federal trial jury, whose duty it is to determine guilt or innocence.

The case was investigated by agents of the FDA’s Office of Criminal Investigations and the U.S. Postal Inspection Service. The case is being prosecuted by Christopher E. Parisi, a Trial Attorney at the Department of Justice’s Consumer Protection Branch in Washington, D.C.

The defendants have made a number of motions and at least one appears to be defending himself (filing pro se). Here’s an example of one such motion:

In his motion to strike for lack of standing, ECF No. 37, Mr. Smith disputes whether the “United States” and the “United States of America” are “legally one and the same.”

I’d want a real attorney if I were a part of this group, but that’s me.

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By Matt Carey

The article is very short but the news is good–Health Canada has gone beyond issuing warnings about MMS (also known as CD protocol, CDS, Chlorine Dioxide Solution, Magic Mineral Solution). They have seized the product from one supplier:

According to Health Canada, MMS contains sodium chlorite, which is used as a textile bleaching agent and disinfectant. An alternate form of MMS, which is called CDS, is also being sold on the same web site. It would have the same risks associated with it as MMS.

Health Canada has now seized the product since sodium chlorite is not approved for human consumption.

If you have been using the product, it is recommended you stop immediately and go see your doctor.

MMS is a scam, plain and simple. And a dangerous scam. More discussion of it can be found at the Thinking Person’s Guide to Autism in: Dangerous Interventions: MMS and Autism by Emily Willingham, Ph.D..

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By Matt Carey

MMS. Magical Mineral Solution. CD. Chlorine Dioxide protocol. It has many names. And it’s a scam. Hiding behind a “church”. And now the Irish get to battle this.

Magic Mineral Solution isn’t magic and it isn’t a mineral solution. It’s a bleach. And among the various scams is the idea that if you force your autistic kid to drink this bleach or take this bleach as an enema, you can cure your child’s autism.

The Irish Examiner has a story: ‘Miracle solution can cure autism’. It’s about how the proprietor of the “church” that is pushing MMS telling an Irish mother that it is a “fact” that MMS can cure autism….and asking for a hefty donation.

When Ms O Leary asked if MMS “could really cure autism”, she alleges Mr Christopher replied it was not a possibility but a fact — a claim also made about numerous conditions on the Genesis II Church website.

Ms O Leary was then sent an email, giving directions to the seminar, and asking her for a €295 donation.

And also:

In 2012, after three hospital admissions and other incidents linked to MMS, Dr Naren Gunja of New South Wales’ Poisons Information Centre in Australia told the Sydney Morning Herald: “It’s a bit like drinking concentrated bleach. They’ve had corrosive injuries: vomiting, stomach pains, diarrhoea.

“If you drink enough sodium chlorite it causes kidney problems, it could cause death.”

By the way, if someone tells you that MMS isn’t a bleach, yeah, it’s a bleach. Calling it “CD” doesn’t change that.

And if they say it’s safe, they are wrong. If they say it cures autism. Run. Here’s a bit from a recent FDA warning:

•Miracle Mineral Solution. Also known as Miracle Mineral Supplement and MMS, this product becomes a potent chemical that‘s used as bleach when mixed according to package directions. FDA has received reports of consumers who say they experienced nausea, severe vomiting and life-threatening low blood pressure after drinking the MMS and citrus juice mixture.

Irish Central has: Irish warned of poisonous ‘miracle cure’ being peddled by US church (VIDEO). I feel both sad that we in the U.S. didn’t stop this nonsense before it exported to Ireland…and jealous that the Irish and their newspapers are quick to spread the word about MMS.

And, back at the Irish Examiner: Drugs watchdog investigating ‘miracle’ cure.

Ireland’s drugs watchdog is investigating at least two people based in this country who are believed to be selling or administering a “miracle” cure for serious conditions, which is in reality a potent bleach.

The Irish Independent: Irish patients warned ‘miracle cure’ from US church is bleach. And the Southern Star has Warning about Genesis II Church.

MMS got it’s foothold in the autism community through the AutismOne conferences. Here in the U.S., gatherings like AutismOne sell all manner of faux therapies for autism. AutismOne will take just about anyone’s money to present a cure, especially if it is sold as healing “vaccine injury”.

So, with apologies to Ireland. We know this is a scam, but we can’t stop it here. I wish you better luck. Be grateful that your press has jumped to inform you. Our press is still trying to figure out if keeping disabled children from being forced to drink bleach is a worthwhile story.

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By Matt Carey