In the months since US health secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. mentioned chlorine dioxide during his Senate confirmation hearing, the online community advocating for the use of the toxic bleach solution as a cure for everything from malaria to autism has become emboldened. Activity on bleach-supporting social media groups is exploding, and influencers are reemerging in an effort to push President Donald Trump’s administration to approve bleach as a mainstream treatment.
“We are thrilled that RFK Jr. is in charge,” Michelle Herman, who sells a nasal spray containing chlorine dioxide and says she’s discussed the topic with Kennedy, tells WIRED. She was pictured, along with other bleach enthusiasts and activists, at the recent Truth Seekers conference held at Trump’s Doral resort in Florida.
Chlorine dioxide is sold under a variety of names, including Miracle Mineral Solution, Chlorine Dioxide Solution, Water Purification Solution, and God’s Detox. Whatever name it goes by, it has been promoted as a cure for a wide array of ailments since the mid-1990s, and despite prosecutions and warnings from authorities it continues to be popular in many parts of the world. It has been peddled as a “cure” for everything from malaria to cancer, from HIV to autism to Covid-19. (There is no credible evidence to back up any of the claims that chlorine dioxide can cure any of these ailments.)