Will drinking chlorine dioxide help someone lose weight or detoxify his or her body? No, that's not true: chlorine dioxide is a bleach-like cleaning agent that can cause adverse health effects, including death if taken orally. The United States Food and Drug Administration has warned people that chlorine dioxide should not be used to treat COVID-19, as it could cause illness.
The claim appeared in a video (archived here) published by TikTok on June 18 with captions in Czech that read, translated by Lead Stories staff: "Detox drink for slimming" and "Yellow water - chlorine dioxide." The person in the video promotes a specially made chlorine dioxide solution and claims she is using it as part of her weight loss program and to detox.
The video opened:
Look what a miracle I have here - yellow water for detox. It is great, I can recommend it. It is great for detoxification and it cuts down your appetite. It is chlorine dioxide and it is a special product made for detoxification. It helps the body get rid of toxins, graphene and all the bad stuff that they put in food these days. They also put poison in the air. There is poison everywhere.
This is what the post looked like on TikTok at the time of writing:
(Source: TikTok screenshot taken on Wed Jun 21 07:18:20 2023 UTC)
Chlorine dioxide is a disinfectant and not a cure for any medical conditions. The United States Food and Drug Administration has warned people that chlorine dioxide should not be used to treat Covid-19 because it can cause illness.
On its website, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention lists chlorine dioxide in the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health´s (NIOSH) Pocket Guide to Chemical Hazards, noting that at common concentrations, it is "highly irritating to the eyes, skin, and respiratory tract... Effects may be delayed. Medical observation is indicated."
Lead Stories already debunked claims that chlorine dioxide can cure Covid-19 here and here.
