Natick Soldier Research, Development, and Engineering Center produced a portable "no power required" method of generating chlorine dioxide, known as ClO2, gas, described as one of the best biocides available for combating contaminants, which range from benign microbes and food pathogens to Category A Bioterror agents. In the weeks after the 9/11 attacks when anthrax was sent in letters to public officials, hazardous materials teams used ClO2 to decontaminate the Hart Senate Office Building, and the Brentwood Postal Facility. In addressing the COVID-19 pandemic, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has posted a list of many disinfectants that meet its criteria for use in environmental measures against the causative coronavirus. Some are based on sodium chlorite that is activated into chlorine dioxide, though differing formulations are used in each product. Many other products on the EPA list contain sodium hypochlorite, which is similar in name but should not be confused with sodium chlorite because they have very different modes of chemical action. Safety Sodium chlorite, like many oxidizing agents, should be protected from inadvertent contamination by organic materials to avoid the formation of an explosive mixture. The chemical is stable in pure form and does not explode on percussive impact, unless organic contaminants are present, such as on a greasy hammer striking the chemical on an anvil. It also easily ignites by friction if combined with a reducing agent like powdered sugar, sulfur or red phosphorus. Toxicity Sodium chlorite is a strong oxidant and can therefore be expected to cause clinical symptoms similar to the well known sodium chlorate: methemoglobinemia, hemolysis, kidney failure. A dose of 10-15 grams of sodium chlorate can be lethal. Methemoglobemia had been demonstrated in rats and cats, and recent studies by the EMEA have confirmed that the clinical symptomatology is very similar to the one caused by sodium chlorate in rats, mice, rabbits, and green monkeys. There is only one human case in the medical literature of chlorite poisoning. It seems to confirm that the toxicity is equal to sodium chlorate. From the analogy with sodium chlorate, even small amounts of about 1 gram can be expected to cause nausea, vomiting and even life-threatening hemolysis in glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase deficient persons. The EPA has set a maximum contaminant level of 1 milligram of chlorite per liter (1 mg/L) in drinking water. Sellers of “Miracle Mineral Solution”, a mixture of sodium chlorite and citric acid also known as