Chlorine dioxide (CD) is a strong oxidizing agent that has found many applications in wastewater treat­ment and food disinfection. It is popular among campers as a way to disinfect water taken from a lake or stream prior to using it as drinking water. In recent years, it has become a popular treatment choice among alternative medicine specialists for various diseases and conditions, despite the fact that the mainstream medical establishment has come down very hard against it. To say that it is con­troversial would be an understatement.

A gas at room temperature, chlorine dioxide is highly soluble in water. It is made by mixing 28 percent sodium chlorite solution with an acid such as citric acid or hydrochloric acid. With its very simple molecular structure (one chlorine atom and two oxygen atoms), CD spontaneously breaks down into hypochlorite and superoxide. These two molecules are very commonly produced by living cells, particularly by immune cells in response to an infection.

Jim Humble, originally trained as an aero­space engineer, is the person most responsible for bringing to light the many special benefits of CD. While using CD as a water-treatment solu­tion during a gold mining expedition in South America, he made a serendipitous discovery. He observed that CD quickly restored health to victims of malaria, evidence of CD’s apparent ability to strengthen the immune cell response to infection. Intrigued by this success story, he became completely committed to sharing his discovery with the world, and to exploring CD’s benefits in treating other diseases. This became for him a lifetime obsession.