One drop can cause irreversible changes. Avoid like the plague.

Scientists from the Medical University of Wroclaw have tested sodium chlorite, known in alternative therapies as the "miracle mineral solution" or "mineral panacea" (Miracle Mineral Solution - MMS), for its antibacterial activity and toxicity.

The substance is promoted on the Internet as a healing preparation , despite numerous warnings from US and European drug regulators - FDA and EMA. The so-called MMS is supposed to help fight many diseases, from autism, through cancer, to COVID-19, and even "cleanse the soul".

- MMS is also known as mineral panacea, a marketing name used for sodium chlorite in concentrations between 25% and 28%. (…) When sodium chlorite is mixed with citric or hydrochloric acid, chlorine oxide is created, which has strong oxidizing properties," explains Dr. Ruth Dudek-Wicher, Pharm., from the Department of Pharmaceutical Microbiology and Medical Parasitology at the University of Wrocław, co-author of the latest publication in the journal "Scientific Reports".

Polish scientists have tested MMS for both its antibacterial activity and toxicity to provide hard scientific evidence that oral ingestion of this substance may pose a real health risk .

- We took a closer look at sodium chlorite because science should respond to the needs of society. Millions of people around the world, including Poland, use this compound in a way that is controversial. So we conducted research, in accordance with the methodology of scientific research, to determine whether sodium chlorite can actually act in the way that alternative medicine communities say - explains Dr. Hab. n. med. Adam Junka, professor at the Medical University of Wrocław from the Workshop of Unique Application Models at the Faculty of Pharmacy of the Wrocław Medical University.

The study clearly shows that concentrations of the so-called MMS, which inhibit the growth of microorganisms, simultaneously destroy the body's cells and damage mucous membranes. They can also lead to chemical burns.

Adverse reactions associated with oral administration of sodium chlorite include primarily:

• vomiting,
• diarrhea,
• dehydration,
• hemolysis, or the breakdown of red blood cells,
• hypotension,
• damage to the gastrointestinal mucosa
• deaths.

The authors of the publication emphasize that there is no safe concentration of an orally consumed solution that would also be effective against microorganisms. The standard set by the Environmental Protection Agency - 1 mg per liter of water - concerns the limit of environmental exposure.

- It was not possible to determine a dose of sodium chlorite that is both active and effective against bacteria and bacterial biofilms, and at the same time safe for the human body. In other words, based on the research results we have obtained, we advise against using sodium chlorite in oral form - warns Prof. Junka.

Copyrighted material - reprint rules are specified in the regulations .