Hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) is one of the simplest molecules on earth. It is also one of the most abundant. We find it in snow, rainfall, clouds, evaporative moisture and healthy cells of living creatures.

It is among the most important and powerful nutrients of life itself on our water planet. Hydrogen and oxygen, that is just one oxygen atom apart from water. H2O2 is the great cleanser which stimulates enzymatic response and keeps the world and her inhabitants healthy, clean and vibrant. Without it our oceans would be putrid, our soils and lands infertile and our forests bereft of the essential fungi, mosses, multitudes of invertebrates, and soil microorganisms that maintain the healthy biosphere we know as 'Earth'.

In other words, without hydrogen peroxide in the life cycle, there could be no life cycle. Stimulating immune response, nourishing cells, fighting off infection and changing nutrients into energy, hydrogen peroxide has so many functions in the life cycles of living creatures that medical science and research have generated thousands of scientific papers and studies on its functions.

Of course, the concentrations of hydrogen peroxide in our environment and in our bodies is minute compared to the man made strengths and grades we are accustomed to nowadays.

This might explain why so many of us are so misinformed, misled and easily confused when it comes to hydrogen peroxide. We see 3% solutions foaming away in our sink, or on a cut on our skin and we immediately infer that anything as powerful as this must be dangerous, and should probably be avoided... The idea of a food grade hydrogen peroxide that is 10 times more powerful than the 3% solution definitely frightens us. But it doesn't have to.

Hydrogen peroxide in the natural environment does not follow the modern paradigm of "more is better". Those stronger solutions are exclusively intended for other purposes, such as decontaminating an environment polluted by standing flood water, or cleaning waste water in a treatment facility. And of course, to provide the fuel for that great modern adventure, space travel.

In nature, hydrogen peroxide collects in the atmosphere in tiny amounts, and rains down on the earth in quantities just large enough to provide oxygenation without delivering such a strong dose that oxidation occurs instead. Remarkable, really, how nature can be so accurate and ingenious that way.

New modern uses of hydrogen peroxide are experiencing a renaissance of sorts. It is proving effective as an ally in everything from the treatment of cancer to use as a safe sterilizing agent in food processing. It has been applied and approved in the treatment of diseases of fish in aquaculture systems, and as a remedy to banana blight and coconut palm scab.

Hydrogen peroxide atomizers are now used in operating rooms to decrease the risk of air borne infection during surgery. Another application of hydrogen peroxide is in plasma sterilization systems. It is also used in outdoor parks and recreation areas to eliminate contamination such as via parvo virus.

In these uses, hydrogen peroxide is metered out in very specific amounts in a water vapor or other delivery system which ensures bio-decontamination without the need for poisonous chemicals or high heat (either of which can be an issue when the goal is maintaining healthy environments).

H2O2 has come a long way from a long and fascinating history that has remained unknown to most of us. It has been documented in such prestigious journals as the English medical journal the Lancet as early as 1922 as a cure in the most lethal influenza outbreak of modern history. It was used by Robert Stroud, aka 'the bird man of Alcatraz' to heal bird flu in birds. Farmers in the Eastern United States have applied it successfully to protect poultry against bird flu during the outbreak of the 1980's.

It also works well in the garden. Mix a 3% food grade solution with 8 parts filtered water and spray crops, houseplants and gardens with the solution for increased vigor and improved yield. Place a small amount of the same solution into the planting hole before you transplant vegetables for similar improvements in plant growth and yield.

Best of all, no matter how you use it, or in what concentrations, simply by adding water, you can dilute it back to plain water. What could be more perfect?