Hydrogen peroxide

Khalil, A (Photographer). (2018). Hydrogen peroxide [photograph]. Calgary, Canada

Have you ever tried bleaching your hair or used whitening strips to whiten your teeth? If you have then chances are it had Hydrogen peroxide in them. Hydrogen peroxide also known as H2O2 or bleach by its more common name is a really common household product (1).

It was discovered by Louis Jacques Thenard in 1818 when he tried burning barium salts to make barium peroxide (2). But it wasn't until 1894 that 100% hydrogen peroxide was extracted by scientist Richard Wolffenstein using a process called vacuum distillation (2).

Structurally, hydrogen peroxide is a very simple compound, one oxygen is connected to the other oxygen and to one of the hydrogen atoms.

There are 4 production stages:

1. Hydrogenation of an anthraquinone (3): Here a solution of 2-ethyl-anthraquinone in a mixed solvent system containing a non-polar hydrocarbon and a polar solvent, and a palladium-based catalyst, is hydrogenated using hydrogen gas (3).
2. Oxidation of the anthraquinol (3): The solution is then oxidized by air to a hydroperoxide which produces a dilute solution of hydrogen peroxide (3).
3. Extraction of hydrogen peroxide solution (3): Water is added to extract the peroxide aqueous solution containing 40% hydrogen peroxide (3).
4. Purification and concentration of hydrogen peroxide (3): The aqueous hydrogen peroxide solution is then treated with organic solvents and pumped through by air to remove residual quinone and solvents to produce the standard 40% product (3).

Hydrogen peroxide is used both industrially and domestically for many reasons. In an industrial setting, the concentration of hydrogen peroxide used is always greater than 10% and its used to bleach paper, used in cosmetics and medicines to disinfect the products (4). Domestically its used to bleach hair, and to disinfect cleaning products (4).

There are also many controversies surrounding hydrogen peroxide and one of the major ones is that it helps in healing wounds. The truth is that if you use hydrogen peroxide on wounds it will actually harm the tissue and delay the healing process (5). The best way is to wash the infected area and use a first aid kit.

Overall, hydrogen peroxide is a safe compound but precautions should be taken when using it like with any other chemical compound, but since domestically it's only available at 3-5% concentrations it can be deemed safe to use.

References: 
1 Hydrogen peroxide. https://pubchem.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/compound/hydrogen_peroxide#section=Synonyms (accessed Nov 29, 2018).
2 https://www.bobbyshealthyshop.co.uk/Hydrogen-Peroxide-History.php (accessed Nov 29, 2018).
3 Lazonby, J. Hydrogen peroxide. http://www.essentialchemicalindustry.org/chemicals/hydrogen-peroxide.html (accessed Nov 29, 2018).
4 https://www.cs.mcgill.ca/~rwest/wikispeedia/wpcd/wp/h/Hydrogen_peroxide.htm (accessed Nov 29, 2018).
5 Debunking Myths of Wound Care. https://advancedtissue.com/2014/07/debunking-myths-wound-care/ (accessed Nov 29, 2018).