Bleach

The central toxicological concern Aajonus raised about bleach was its release of chloroform gas. He applied this concern not only to household use but to commercial food environments. He described walking into a grocery store meat department and smelling Clorox, and he was explicit about what was happening: "The chloroform is poisoning every customer and every employee down there. That's not a safe thing. That's not sanitary. That's poisoning stupidity." He drew no distinction between the smell being faint or strong. The presence of the smell indicated active chloroform exposure for everyone in the space.

In his written materials and workshops on bathing, he extended this concern to showering. He stated that chlorine vapors, which he identified as chloroform, "gradually weaken and damage lungs, blood, thyroid and brain, predisposing people to pneumonia, other respiratory conditions, and meningitis of spine and brain." He recommended non-chemical filters for those who shower with municipal chlorinated water for precisely this reason. He also described his own response to local water quality, stating that the fluoride and chlorine levels in certain cities were so high that taking a shower there would make him "a nervous shaking wreck," which is why he refused to shower and instead took hot baths with neutralizing agents added to the water.

The chlorine in swimming pools was another repeated target. He attributed a family member's asthma directly to chloroform in swimming pools, noting that this person was a diver who swam regularly and developed asthma as a direct consequence. He also catalogued swimmer earaches, sore throats, and headaches as results of chloroform in pool water. His position was that algae and murky water are not health problems, but that chlorine, which is added ostensibly to solve those problems, produces real physiological damage.

When someone at one of his workshops advocated for Clorox baths as a way to detoxify chemical residues and even radiation, citing the belief that Clorox has unique properties no other bleach possesses, Aajonus rejected this completely. His two-word response was "Very harmful." When the person persisted, he granted only that Clorox does have a unique property but immediately identified that property as a liability rather than a benefit: the chloroform it releases as a gas. He did not offer any qualified version of the practice, did not suggest a diluted form might be acceptable, and did not acknowledge any mechanism by which it might assist detoxification. His bath protocol involved apple cider vinegar, sea salt, and fruit preparations such as strawberries, peaches, or apricots, and he was specific that these neutralize the chemicals in municipal tap water before he gets into it. The contrast with Clorox baths was direct and implied.

In his recipe book, Aajonus addressed bleach as a contaminant on new gauze cloth, cheesecloth, and cheese pouches. He stated plainly that new material of this kind "contains bleach and chemical sizing, compounds that are very toxic." His protocol for handling this was thorough and specific: the cloth must be rinsed in cold water first, then in hot water, and finally rinsed in warm water with a capful of raw vinegar before any use with food. He also specified that soap should not be used after the first washing, presumably because soap residue would compound the chemical contamination problem rather than resolve it. The vinegar rinse was the functional step that made the cloth safe for contact with raw food.

Aajonus identified bleach as something applied to commercially sold cinnamon bark and possibly other spice products. He noted that cinnamon bark is normally black, and that it is bleached to give it a red-orange appearance. He described the natural color of the inner or younger bark as brown-orange, and said that when cinnamon appears bright red or bright orange, "you know it's been treated." He identified real chlorine bleach as the agent used for this, and he was skeptical of claims that rinsing removes it, asking rhetorically "who's dreaming?" His concern was not only the bleach itself but the toxic byproducts that form when bleach interacts with other compounds in the spice material. He mentioned benzene and other toxins, and he compared the chemical interaction to the kind of compound toxicity produced when citric acid and benzoic acid are combined.

Aajonus treated the bleaching capacity of naturally sparkling mineral water as an entirely separate phenomenon from synthetic bleach, and he discussed it in a descriptive rather than alarming register. He explained that naturally sparkling mineral water carries natural hydrogen peroxide, which is responsible for its ability to remove stains quickly and easily when applied to surfaces. He recommended Gerolsteiner water specifically for removing blood or food stains from materials like suede.

However, he was careful to note a practical hazard: if sparkling mineral water is not rinsed out of a surface within a defined period, it will bleach the material. He gave the specific timeframe of fifteen minutes for Gerolsteiner on suede, saying that if left longer, it will act like peroxide and bleach the suede regardless of the color. He extended this warning to clothing and tile, stating that sparkling mineral water left on fabric will create a bleach spot, and that it will create a bleach spot in untreated tile as well. On clothing, he specified that the bleach spot will appear "no matter what it's on," provided the water is not rinsed out.

This was not presented as a danger to health but as a practical handling note. The same hydrogen peroxide property that makes sparkling water useful for stain removal makes it capable of bleaching surfaces if allowed to act too long. Aajonus presented the internal effect of sparkling mineral water differently, noting that in the digestive tract it produces more nitrogen, and in the blood it produces more oxygen, framing those as beneficial properties distinct from the surface bleaching effect.

Aajonus touched on a related concept when discussing air ionizers. He described an experience in which an ionizer had been left running in a room and had driven toxic proteins from pollution into the walls, furniture, and everything in the space. He noted that while ionizers split molecules so "you can't see the dirty look and it bleaches it, the poison is still being driven into the tissue, into the walls and everything." His concern here was that the bleaching or apparent cleaning action masks the actual chemical penetration, creating a false impression of cleanliness while the real damage occurs invisibly. He extended the logic to the body, warning that ionizers should not be used with water because the ionized water "goes right into your body."

In a separate but related passage, Aajonus addressed a news article about the scientific discovery of hydrogen peroxide buildup as a cause of gray hair. He stated that the researchers "did not tell the cause of too much hydrogen peroxide buildup," and identified the real cause as toxic metallic minerals being discarded through the hair, which damages the follicles and destroys PABA, the B vitamin that regulates pigmentation. This is distinct from bleach in the synthetic sense, but it connects to the same chemical family and shows how Aajonus read bleaching effects in biological tissue as signs of toxic mineral accumulation and damage to regulatory vitamins, rather than as primary events.