The History Of Howard Alliger - Pioneer Of Chlorine Dioxide Therapies
In the 1970's, Howard Alliger, a scientist, inventor, and entrepreneur recognized the therapeutic potential of chlorine dioxide to treat human skin, nasal, and oral diseases (among many other uses).
Although I am going ever deeper into the “rabbit hole” of chlorine dioxide, I again want to emphasize that I am not writing as a doctor recommending a treatment. I consider this work to be in the vein of an amateur investigative science journalist trying to compile all the evidence necessary to guide and promote the research needed to establish chlorine dioxide as a viable therapy for all. Subscribe now to not miss critical upcoming posts on this topic.
HISTORY OF THE MODERN CHLORINE DIOXIDE PIONEERS
To recap, although chlorine dioxide has been widely used since the 1940’s in multiple industries such as water purification and as a disinfectant and bleaching agent, it was not until 1985 that oral ingestion was discovered to have therapeutic properties at much lower and safely tolerated concentrations.
The 1985 water treatment incident in Nigeria was relayed to me by an anonymous translational scientist with high-level security clearances (now 85 years old), who, in that post, I identified only by his old nickname, “Colonal Mondragon (CM).”
To be fair, I would say we don’t really know when its therapeutic potential as an orally ingested therapeutic was first discovered because CM found that soon after his discovery of its efficacy against malaria in Nigeria, he learned of Mexican and Central American doctors that were using it to cure other diseases as well (but not malaria).
Soon after the Nigeria incident, CM was assigned to support the aid teams sent by Ronald Reagan to assist the Russians in their response to the Chernobyl nuclear accident. In that follow-up post, I provided granular details about that mission and how it led to CM meeting Vladimir Pasechnik, a Soviet scientist who later became an international whistleblower on the Russian Bioweapons program. It was Pasechnik who informed CM that chlorine dioxide was a “universal antidote against bioweapons.” Pasechnik also told CM that the Soviets had been studying it in the treatment of disease and that he was curing TB with it. That was in 1985. And that information has, as far as I know, been classified by the Russians to this day. Here is a timeline of the oral and topical chlorine dioxide pioneers:
In this post I will detail Howard Alliger’s contributions (color coded in brown above) to the science and development of numerous therapeutic applications of chlorine dioxide. In a rapid series of upcoming posts that have already been completed, as per the chart above, I will follow with the histories and contributions of Jim Humble, Mark Grenon, Enno Frye, and Andreas Kalcker. In a later, final post, I will include my interviews with the documentarians Kacper Maciej Postawski, who in 2016, produced the amazing documentary called “Quantum Leap” which exploded interest in the treatment worldwide. That documentary then inspired my friend Jeff “The Curious OutLier” to explore the science behind chlorine dioxide, eventually inspiring him to make “The Universal Antidote” documentary and website in 2021. It is that website which is still one of, if not the, best resources for information on chlorine dioxide anywhere.
The History Of Howard Alliger, Founder of Frontier Pharma
Now, about a decade prior to Colonel Mondragon’s discovery of its efficacy in treating malaria, another pioneer discovered its therapeutic efficacy with topical applications and then began disseminating and building upon that knowledge as you will learn about below.
In the mid 1970’s, Howard Alliger, an inventor, scientist, and businessman was looking for a non-corrosive liquid sterilizer for one of his “ultrasonic cleaning” products. One day around 1975 Alliger was bothered by a skin irritation on his hands but he nonetheless proceeded with a tank disinfecting job, saturating his hands with a chlorine dioxide compound. By day's end, he discovered the skin irritation had disappeared.
Although many histories of his subsequent work and contributions are available, I found the most revealing was from this radio interview I found. I made a transcript of it because in it he himself describes the true “origin story” of his interest in chlorine dioxide as a therapeutic (paraphrased for brevity):
Q: First of all, how did you choose chlorine dioxide?
Well, as with a lot of things, it was a bit of an accident. My real field was ultrasonics. We were looking for something to both clean and sterilize an ultrasonic cleaner tank. In an ultrasonic cleaner, the ultrasonic causes little bubbles that you can't see and they collapse with great force. That cleans anything you put into the ultrasonic cleaner. Well, we decided, why don't we try to both clean and sterilize at the same time? And so we tried to fill the cavitation bubble into the ultrasonic cleaner with a gas that would kill a bacteria. And we tried chlorine, which we found was two corrosive, so then we tried hydrogen peroxide, which disappeared in a few seconds. And then we hit upon chlorine dioxide. And that worked magnificently. We sterilized in a few seconds, actually. And then we took the chlorine dioxide and applied it to the outside of the ultrasonic cleaner. And lo and behold, it sterilized outside the cleaner as well. And that started the ball rolling. We took the same chlorine dioxide and started putting it on cuts and scratches, on moles, on pores, on acne, in my ear, in my eye.
Although chlorine dioxide was already known as an excellent and safe disinfectant, it was Alliger who discovered its healing properties for use on the body as well as establishing methods to make it on a small scale for personal uses. Alliger continued:
I was a guinea pig, and so was my family. And it worked on nearly everything, so very surprisingly. So I started a company. And that was many years ago. And now, since then, we've developed 20 different chlorine dioxide products. We found that the chlorine dioxide in our products kills all bacteria, virus, spores, yeast, all microorganisms within a minute in vitro, which is hard to believe, but it does that. And we put it on a wound, it did something even more than that. It oxidized free radicals and cytokines. Cytokines are compounds that the body releases in response to infection or wounds [that induces inflammation] that are quite irritating. So we oxidized those and neutralized them. So we had a perfect combination for a wound healer. That's how it all started. We built this pharmaceutical company around the traits of chlorine dioxide.
You have to try it yourself, and you will see that it cures the warts fast and without pain or acne, fast and easy. That's what we're in the process of doing now, getting people used to something new. Other pharmaceutical companies don't take to it that easily either. Even with formal studies done, people don't jump on it. We have to educate people that this compound is quite different. Chlorine, for example, when it oxidizes an organic compound, it adds the chlorine atom, and that makes it carcinogenic and irritating. It makes chloroform and chlorophenol in the water supply, which are nasty. We don't do that. Chlorine dioxide doesn't do that. It's not the same at all.
Q. How did your research into this evolve?
Once I saw that it killed bacteria so fast, I tried to experiment. We were working on everything, on my family, on me, on every imperfection on the skin, mole, wart, irritations, scalp itch, fungus of the nail, acne. We first used it as a cleaner on the face, like an exfoliant, and it worked beautifully. Then we found that it wakes up the circulation underneath the skin like nitric oxide, and it works on frostbite. As an exfoliant, it wakes up the circulation in the skin so you look more youthful. Of course, a lot of people claim the same thing for their potion.
That's the position we're in now. We just started using it on everything and that's how it evolved. And we're trying to get larger pharmaceutical companies to take over. And that's been a difficulty at the moment. Now, the FDA has been pretty good to us, which is a funny thing to hear. But the pharmaceutical companies that would take this and run with it have been difficult to work with, even with the studies that we have done.
Interviewer: I'm happy you made the comment about the FDA, because there are so many people that are sitting around waiting for the FDA to bring the hammer down on the MMS protocol. It can go either way. But the truth is that we shouldn't assume that the FDA is going to do anything that is ultimately harmful, even though they may be protecting or appear to be protecting the interests of pharmaceutical firms.
(Editorial note: Although Alliger did not find the FDA a hindrance to research of his topical and mucosal applications, the FDA’s brazenly false statements about the toxicity of orally ingested chlorine dioxide suggests that, contrary to the interviewers naive optimism, the FDA and other regulatory agencies around the world are deliberateley blocking research and interest into oral chlorine dioxide).
Interviewer: Ultimately, their real mandate is to protect the well-being of the public (Editorial note: What? Sorry, I could not let that one slide). Ultimately, if chlorine dioxide is of ultimate benefit to the public, we the public should actually make certain that it is not suppressed in some way (Ed: Working on it brother). That's something we can do because ultimately, the people who run the FDA are still people, too.
Exactly. The FDA understood just the position we were in, and were a bit of a help, I would say.
Interviewer: I’m surprised Howard, that the pharmaceutical companies, though, have been a bit more sluggish in their embracing of you.
Well, I guess it surprised me a little, I guess you don't change that easily. If you're set in your ways and you have your own products, even though another one is better, you just don't change. I mean, our acne gel is better than all the others, but with all the advertising and the pretty faces you see on your TV set, it's a hard thing to trump.
Interviewer: The fact that chlorine dioxide works in such a wonderful way in these topical applications is interesting. There's all kinds of buzz going on right now because of the internal application that Jim Humble developed to start dealing with the waters that are inside our body. I mean, 70% of our body is made up of water, and it's an area that we have just not touched. And yet it's affecting our health, especially when we do nothing about it. Anybody that's in a major health challenge is going to be toxic. Simple as that. The steps that we can take to reduce toxicity is really of the utmost importance. That's one of the wonders of your product line.
“Well, we started this a good 25 years ago.. And little by little, we developed each part of this to make it a whole compound with a dispenser and catalysts. We had to figure out how much and what concentration to put on a wound. How often do you put it on? What concentration? What wetting agents do you put with it? What will get it into the skin easiest? Each of our 20 medications is different in that regard. It has different wetting agents, different concentrations. For removing scars, we use a very high concentration. For tooth whitening, we use a very high concentration. For our gynagel, which prevents sexually transmitted diseases, we use a very low concentration. That has not passed the FDA, by the way, so we cant sell it, but it's being tested now. So we have different concentrations for each one of the medications. For thrush on horses, that's a fungal disease of the hoof, we use a very high concentration. For warts it is also fairly high, but for acne it's low, for itchy scalp, when we kill fungus, it's a medium concentration.
Basically, as far back as 1975, Alliger recognized the potential of a compound that had uses far beyond tank sterilization. Results were sufficiently promising that Alliger teamed with fellow businessman Elliott J. Siff to develop, market and license the compound; they were, respectively, chairman and president of the company.
Although ready to market their products, Alliger kept on finding new applications for Alcide. From Alliger’s daughter Valerie Alliger-Bograd:
The applications tended to reveal themselves as he kept learning more and more about everything to do with chlorine dioxide. It actually was a hindrance to the company because it was hard to focus on and support any one application. And that, truthfully, likely had something to do with my dad’s departure from the company, because he wanted to keep developing new applications and the board probably didn’t share that sentiment.
Some of the applications were in the treatment of viral, fungal and bacterial infections in animals; treatment of a variety of human skin diseases; disinfection and sterilization in medical facilities; as a sterilant for food production machinery and food preservation; as a preservative for cutting oils and paints; and as a deodorant/disinfectant for carpets, Boeing airplanes, chemical toilets, public conveyances and meeting places.
Again from Howard Alliger’s daughter, Valerie Alliger-Bograd:
I'm trying very hard not to be biased, but I do feel that my dad's contributions should be given more credit. Without his work I do not think Jim Humble could have done what he did. As far as I know, and as far as my dad knew at the time that he started experimenting with chlorine dioxide back in the 1970s, he was the first to realize the healing nature of chlorine dioxide, and no one knew how to make it on a small scale for personal use. My dad's patent in 1978 made this possible and opened the field of personal use of ClO2.
To help try to give you a better appreciation for the work my dad did, I will share with you an index of over 300 studies performed by Alcide and Frontier. And that's only some of it. There were 42 published papers.
Alliger was thus one of the first (and most prolific) scientific researchers on the safety and efficacy of chlorine dioxide for both human and animal health and for almost anything that involves killing bacteria, viruses, and fungi. The missed opportunity is that Alliger never explored orally ingested applications, and instead focused on products for oral, dental, nasal, and skin diseases (although later in his life he patented a method for successfully injecting tumors with chlorine dioxide).
From his daughter Valerie:
In regards to oral ingestion, he had his hands full developing topical uses for ClO2, especially since the applications kept coming. He also knew from the pharmacology studies that Clo2 breaks down in the body so rapidly that it wasn’t obvious that there would be a beneficial effect from oral ingestion. He also knew that it would be very hard to study internal uses, then get regulatory approval and then commercialize that application. However, he did suspect that there might be a benefit with internal uses because he did an IV study in monkeys with AIDS.
Ultimately, his work led to his Alcide and Frontier companies acquiring many chlorine dioxide related patents. It was his first Alcide “method” patent (Germ Killing Composition and Method#4084747) that paved the way for the rest. It’s worthy to note that Howard himself had over 30 patents in the fields of chlorine dioxide, ultrasonics [including an ultrasonically derived vaccine for Lyme Disease], and air pollution abatement. See a list of most of them here:
From theuniversalantidote.com:
Alcide Corporation had patents for treating wound disinfection, donated human blood and blood component disinfection, an oral rinse for prevention and treatment of infection, formulations for anti-inflammatory diseases including psoriasis, fungal infections, eczema, dandruff, acne, genital herpes, and leg ulcers. Other products included topical applications for preventing and treating bacterial infections including udder mastitis, in mammals.
In his patent for treating sinusitis, numerous other chlorine dioxide patents by his and other companies for the treatment of various mucosal and skin conditions were cited:
A full list of Alcide’s patents can be found here, with the most relevant ones for Alcide and Frontier listed below:
Composition and procedure for disinfecting blood and blood components
Formulations for treatment of inflammatory diseases, including psoriasis, fungal infections, eczema, dandruff, acne, genital herpes, and leg ulcers.
Products for topical prevention and treatment of udder mastitis in mammals
Patents for a method of treating cancer with chlorine dioxide injections.
Methods were also developed and patented for treating lower genital tract infections (vulvitis, vaginitis, cervicitis, and endometritis, (involving intra-vaginal or intra-uterine infusions).
Other products under development were systemic anti-inflammatory formulations and methods for reducing inflammation in tissues such as bowel, muscle, bone, tendon, and joints.
Never forget the 1988 NASA report where they called Alcide “the universal antidote”, highlighting its immense impacts on the dairy industry:
Caused by bacteria, bovine mastitis is an inflammation of a cow's mammary gland that results in loss of milk production and, in extreme cases, death. According to the National Mastitis Council, it is the largest cause of financial loss for the U.S. dairy industry, amounting to about $2 billion annually. The University of Massachusetts Department of Animal Sciences, Amherst, conducted a year-long test of products that might be the answer to effective treatment and prevention of the disease,
The Alcide compound has killed all tested bacteria, virus and fungi shortly after contact, with minimal toxic effect on humans or animals. The Massachusetts tests have shown Alcide's teat dip to be effective against a wide range of mastitis-causing organisms; the product has also demonstrated that it is non-toxic and does not irritate the udder.
Alcide Corporation credits the existence of the mastitis treatment/prevention products to assistance provided the company by the New England Research Application Center (NERAC), one of NASA's nine Industrial Application Centers, which provide information retrieval services and technical help to industry and government clients.
Basically, NASA gave it the name “The Universal Antidote” because Alcide had an impact on so many industries in addition to the dairy industry. Again from the NASA article:
“The disinfectant/deodorizer is one of a wide range of Alcide formulations engineered for a variety of purposes, spanning automotive, medical, agricultural, pharmaceutical and consumer markets.
However, for unknown reasons, Howard Alliger left the company and as a condition was not allowed to continue research in chlorine dioxide for 10 years. The subsequent direction of the original Alcide corporation, after Alliger left, soon veered away from therapeutic applications to focus more on industrial ones. As per the Universal Antidote documentary:
In 2004, the multi-billion dollar company called EcoLab acquired Alcide Corporation and the CEO stated “We believe the transaction of Alcide is attractively priced for Alcide Shareholders, and will allow Alcide to accelerate growth for its products and improve opportunities for its employees.”
However, after the purchase, research and development of chlorine dioxide for human applications seem to have stopped and Alcide products were re-branded with a strong focus on industrial and agricultural use.
From his daughter Valerie:
My dad was so eager to continue the development of the technology. It wasn’t being utilized for so much of its potential. And, just as an aside, supposedly the shareholders were not in favor of the Ecolab deal.
However, at the age of 66, his non-compete agreement with Alcide expired so Alliger promptly started a new company called Arco Research where he continued to develop products. Arco later was renamed Frontier Pharmaceutical which currently sells a number of oral hygiene, nasal spray, skin and wound care products here. They have also performed preliminary and promising studies on their intra-tumor cancer treatment and hope to continue that research with the help of outside support.
Again from his daughter and Frontier CEO Valerie Alliger-Bograd:
Frontier then did a lot to advance the technology to make it more user friendly and shelf stable. My dad wrote several more patents to speed the release of ClO2 and at a higher and more physiologically agreeable pH. This led to the mouthwash, toothpaste and Snoot! nasal spray products. We also figured out how to make a stable gel with ClO2. And most notably, and quite amazingly, my dad figured out how to stabilize the ClO2 into a single ClO2 complex which eliminated the need to mix the two parts. These products are shelf stable for 1.5 years at room temp and longer if kept cold. This complex is actually a new molecule called chlorodioxyurea, rather than being straight chlorine dioxide. All our testing of this single part complex has found that the products are just as efficacious as the two part system.
Also, at Frontier, we began testing beyond topical uses. My dad felt strongly that ClO2 would cure AIDS and in the late 1990s we did an IV trial in monkeys (truthfully, offhand I forget if they were drinking or injecting it). We were actually testing straight sodium chlorite instead of ClO2 because (and there may be more to it than this) since ClO2 breaks down in the body so quickly into chlorite, chlorite and chloride) he figured on using just the chlorite. The study ended because the monkeys overdosed overnight while no one was monitoring the automatic doses. We ran out of money so couldn’t continue.
We have done a lot of testing over the past 40 some odd years on so many things.
In fact, below is an article attesting to the fact that studies done by the Director of the Naval Research laboratory at Boston University Medical Schools found that Alcide killed HIV in mammalian cell cultures without damaging the cells. They also found that blood taken from baboons and treated with Alcide did not damage any of the blood components and could be safely re-transfused into the baboons. So, Alcide could “disinfect” donated blood prior to transfusion?
Ultimately, Howard Alliger’s contributions to the science of chlorine dioxide remain unparalleled and truly historic. He is remembered as having a unique set of personal qualities which I believe led to his achievements. As per the Frontier Pharma website:
Howard’s contributions have been extraordinary. He was an outside-the box-thinker, an entrepreneur, seeker of knowledge and truth, and always unconventional - but above all, incredibly determined.
For those who know me, I cherish those qualities deeply.
I leave you with a picture of Howard in his later years with his daughter Valerie who joined Frontier Pharma 25 years ago and now is President and owner of the company since his death:
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P.S. In my next post, I will cover the history and contributions of Jim Humble, who discovered that oral chlorine dioxide cured malaria in British Guyana in 1996 (it was Colonel Mondragon that gave him the sodium chlorite drops for his expedition).
P.P.S. If anyone is interested in going to the “Truth Seekers” Conference and golf tournament with over 40 speakers from all over the world, sign up at this link: and see below flyer (I love how they used a picture of me from 15 years ago :). They also claim that I am Board certified which I am no longer, whoops…
Now that you are writing this series I suggest creating a new Substack "publication section" to organize all your ClO₂ posts. Having them all under a dedicated section might be handy for readers. I have been enjoying your research. Thank you.
Howard Alliger proposed a patent for intratumoral injection of chlorine dioxide almost at the same time as I did (although my patent application was slightly earlier than his, it was submitted in Chinese, so few in the English-speaking world are aware of it). I believe he adhered to the spirit of scientific inquiry throughout the research and development process. Notably, both he and I favor the localized use of chlorine dioxide, and it is evident that he possesses extensive chemical knowledge.