The US health secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. emboldens the ‘Bleach Boys’

On this blog, we have repeatedly discussed BLEACH and several of the individuals promoting it (who I called ‘BLEACH BOYS’) as a cure for just about everything, e.g.:

• Beware of the ‘Bleach Boys’ – hydrogen peroxide and chlorine dioxide
• Anti-vaxxer jailed for selling bleach (MMS) as a cure for Covid-19
• Miracle Mineral Supplement (MMS): accidental ingestion by an infant
• Selling bleach as ‘miracle’ cure (MMS): Father and three sons are going to prison
• Selling bleach solution as ‘miracle’ cure? No, it’s a dangerous ‘snake oil’!
• A well-known opponent of vaccination has died of COVID after self-treatment with MMS
• MMS-salesman Andreas Kalcker has been arrested in Argentina

The US health secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. mentioned bleach, i.e. chlorine dioxide, during his Senate confirmation hearing. Specifically, he referenced chlorine dioxide while praising Trump for “looking at all of the different remedies” for Covid, using it as an example of the open-mindedness that Kennedy characterized as a “demonstration of leadership”. It has been reported that this encouraged those advocating the use of bleach solution (also known as Miracle Mineral Solution, Chlorine Dioxide Solution, Water Purification Solution, and God’s Detox) as a panacea, and influencers are now pushing to get bleach approved as a mainstream treatment. “We are thrilled that RFK Jr. is in charge,” said Michelle Herman, who sells a nasal spray containing chlorine dioxide. Apparently she already discussed the topic with Kennedy.

“The bleachers are back, making connections with powerful people, reaching RFK and Trump,” says Fiona O’Leary, an Ireland-based activist who has spent years trying to highlight the dangers of toxic bleach solutions being sold as an autism cure. “Bleachers want RFK to approve chlorine dioxide as a treatment for autism, cancer, and other conditions. It is like watching a horror show.”

Days after the confirmation hearing, Pierre Kory claimed on a podcast that Kennedy had called him to discuss the use of bleach ahead of the hearing: “Bobby thought they were going to come after him on that. So I basically told Bobby what the real story was on it.” Kennedy has praised Kory on social media, calling him a “brave dissident doctor” and “honest, brave, and sincere.”

Herman says that she met Kennedy in October 2023: “I was honored to meet him in late 2023 and was able to talk with him for about 30 minutes. I shared that, very similar to the war on ivermectin, the war on chlorine dioxide was the same story … He listened intently, indicated he was not familiar with it, but was nonetheless very intrigued and asked for more information.”

One of the most notorious figures within the bleaching community, Mark Grenon, was sentenced to a stint in federal prison in 2023 alongside three of his sons for selling bleach as a cure for Covid. A self-styled archbishop of the Genesis II Church of Health and Healing, Grenon was released from prison in September 2024, according to the Federal Bureau of Prisons website. While Grenon initially told a supporter on Facebook that he was “not allowed” to become part of groups promoting chlorine dioxide, he has appeared on numerous podcasts and livestreams in recent months to promote the use of bleach. An individual with the username Mark_Grenon is also now listed as an administrator of Oates’ Chlorine Dioxide Testimonies Telegram group, which has more than 30,000 members.

In one question-and-answer session hosted on Zoom related to “curing” cancer with chlorine dioxide, Grenon said that chlorine dioxide is “growing worldwide.” In another recent online interview, Grenon claimed a member of his church treated a 4-month-old baby with liver cancer by soaking them in a bath of water topped up with 100 drops of chlorine dioxide. Last month, Grenon attended the Truth Seekers conference at Trump’s resort, which was filled with bleach enthusiasts and antisemitic conspiracy theorists. Grenon was pictured at the event alongside Herman and Oates as well as Kerri Rivera, who has long promoted chlorine dioxide as a treatment for autism. Rivera has been living in Mexico in recent years; previously, German authorities investigated accusations that she had caused bodily harm to a child, though no charges were ultimately filed.

Andreas Kalcker, another bleach activist, was also at the conference. Kalcker was charged by authorities in Argentina in 2021 following the death of a 5-year-old boy whose parents gave him Kalcker’s chlorine dioxide solution with the belief that it would ward off Covid. In an interview published recently on Rumble, Kalcker said he once met Kennedy at the AutismOne conference in Chicago in 2013 where they were both speakers.

For years, a central aim of some chlorine dioxide advocates has been to remove a key warning about chlorine dioxide issued by the US Food and Drug Administration in August 2019, during Trump’s first term in office. It was viewed as a significant block to more widespread adoption of the treatment by doctors. “The solution,” the news release read, “when mixed, develops into a dangerous bleach which has caused serious and potentially life-threatening side effects.”

“RFK has to rescind that FDA warning against chlorine dioxide,” said Herman during a March livestream on Rumble, an alternative video sharing platform. “That’s what stops everybody in their tracks. Every doctor, no matter how much guts they have, they see that warning and they get nervous, they get scared … that’s got to be rescinded.”

The FDA warning was last live on the agency’s site on May 15, according to an archived version of the site available on the Internet Archive. Proponents of the toxic solution view the removal of the warning as a victory. “I was genuinely surprised, and as someone from China, I couldn’t imagine our own government quietly removing a public warning without any announcement,” said Xuewu Liu, who promotes the treatment of cancerous tumors by directly injecting them with chlorine dioxide. “This quiet removal won’t immediately change everything, but it opens a door.”

While the removal of the warning is a huge boon for those promoting the toxic bleach solution, it is just the first step in a push to make chlorine dioxide a mainstream treatment. In her livestream interview in March, Herman said she suggested that someone hold a “Make America Healthy Again roundtable” to discuss chlorine dioxide, while getting the FDA and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to conduct research into chlorine dioxide and setting standards for the toxic solution. “We know that there is awareness and support for repurposed drugs and what are termed ‘alternative’ therapies, and we hope that the restraints and prosecutions will cease,” said Herman. “Will they outright approve these therapies? We just don’t know. More realistically, they will hopefully encourage further evaluations towards such approvals.”