Palm Beach Gardens, Florida -- Amanda Seigler, a Lake Worth resident, has spent nearly six years infiltrating Facebook groups to expose parents force-feeding their children with what doctors call a toxic chemical called Miracle Mineral Supplement, or MMS.
“How do these people think this is the right thing? Somebody has to protect these children,” Seigler told WPBF.
Seigler said she creates fake profiles to gain access to various autism support groups.
“When I see hard evidence that it is happening, I will go online and search for contact information because authorities won’t search for the information themselves. We have to spoonfeed them,” Seigler said.
The mother of six says four of her children have autism. But it wasn’t until her 3-year-old son was diagnosed with the disease that she began seeking out “support” groups on Facebook.
“I was shocked, very angry. I just think of my own children and how could anybody do that,” Seigler said.
Multiple parents posted about forcing their child to ingest the “toxic” product using syringes, enemas and even humidifiers. Their children experienced side effects such as coughing, vomiting, and diarrhea.
Dr. Adam Bromberg, medical director of the Emergency Department at Wellington Regional Medical Center, says MMS is composed of chlorine dioxide, an extremely dangerous toxic chemical that turns into a “bleach-like” solution when mixed with certain liquids.
“It can cause burns. It can cause damage to the esophagus and to the stomach and cause reactions in our bodies,” Bromberg said.
But several parents were actually encouraged by the adverse reactions and gave their children even more…. Claiming this is “proof that MMS is working”.
“These parents are seeking help in how much bleach to give their children, symptoms from the bleach, etc. when they are shedding lining of their intestines, the parents are told that ‘the autism is leaving’ and to increase the dose,” Seigler said. “Children have sores all over, their skin turns yellow and other disturbing symptoms.”
“Obviously if our bodies are reacting to something negatively, giving more is not the right answer. It just doesn’t make sense,” Bromberg said.
Mariska Angenent, a member of one of the groups Seigler is a part of, said she tried MMS for three months and noticed it cleared the “brain fog” she was experiencing. But Angenent said she stopped using it because of the taste and has not used it on her son who suffers from autism.
“We use other means for healing for him,” Angenent said in a statement. “I know that it has helped my friend’s son a lot. He was severely autistic and still has a long way to go, but she wants to avoid placing him in a home because of aggression,”
Kerri Rivera manages a Facebook group that promotes the use of CD to treat autism. Rivera said she has worked as a health care practitioner for more than 15 years and has successfully treated children who have autism, including her son.
“Calling chloride dioxide “toxic bleach” is fraud, pure and simple,” Rivera said in a statement.
She said that the, “FDA permits the use of chlorine dioxide as a food additive and the EPA endorses the addition of chlorine dioxide to public drinking water and estimates that is used by 300 to 400 water utilities throughout the US.”
WPBF reached out to the Food and Drug Administration, Florida Poison Information Center and the CDC’s National Center for Environmental Health for comment.
A spokesman with the Florida Poison Information Center in Miami recommended anyone interested in information regarding the toxicity of any chemical to call the Poison Control Center, 1-800-222-1222.
One other responded and referred us to the American Association of Poison Control Centers.
According to their website, children exposed to large amounts of chlorine dioxide (CD) or chlorite would likely be affected in the same manner as adults.
“You might experience irritation in the mouth, esophagus, or stomach. Most people will not be exposed to chlorine dioxide or chlorite in amounts large enough to damage other parts of the body, but if you were, you might experience shortness of breath and other respiratory problems because of damage to the substances in blood that carry oxygen throughout the body,” according to the American Association of Poison Control Centers.
As a person living with autism herself, Seigler said many groups have created new pages, making it more difficult for people to join. But she said she will continue exposing people until the use of CD stops completely.
“We have reported to the FDA, Department of Justice and not a lot has been done,” Seigler said.
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