From: Monte Davis 

Ellen K.  wrote:

>I always think of oxygen as something beneficial.  Are there organisms
>today that it destroys?

It would destroy your own cells if they didn't have membranes and elaborate
biochemical pathways to control its reactivity and capture the energy
release.

Your tissues aren't bathed in dissolved oxygen -- they get it from
hemoglobin, which locks on in the lungs and releases it in tiny measured
doses. Hyperbaric (high-pressure) chambers that put more oxygen in each
lungful can be useful, but also dangerous, because they
*do* force oxygen into solution.

Hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) is a disinfectant for wounds because it releases a
burst of oxygen, which kills a lot of bacteria -- and stings your tissue,
normally shielded by skin.

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