Why is H2O(Water)perfectly safe but H2O2(Hydrogen Peroxide)extremely toxic?
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H2O2 is not very stable and quickly breaks down into H2O and a free O radical. This O is like a supervillain, it wants to hind to things so badly that it will force it’s way into other molecules, often damaging them. The end result is oxidation, and just like steel oxidises and turns to rust, your body doesn’t like being oxidised at all. As you age, some molecules will naturally oxidise, but too many free O’s can accelerate that process. That’s why you see so many ads for antioxidant this or that: they contain stuff that can capture the O’s before they can cause too much damage to your body and make you look wrinkly for example
The good side of H2O2 is that the O’s don’t care what they oxidise, so putting it on a contaminated surface allows the O to destroy bad bacteria for example, therefore cleaning it for us.
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