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Foot baths may or may not benefit people in some real way, but it's amazing when people are told that all the dark stuff that's in the foot basin came out of your body. We know better.

Hi Russ:

Here's a bit more information on this topic that I just ran across. It was written by Stephen Loweris, a retired faculty member of the
Dept of Chemistry, Simon Fraser University, Burnaby / Vancouver, Canada and the complete article is well worth reading:

"More electrolytic pseudoscience: "Detoxifying" foot-baths

Have you ever heard of those foot-baths through which an electric current is passed in order to draw out the "toxins" from your body? To someone who knows no chemistry, it can be quite impressive to see all these evil substances color the water various shades of brown, green, and blue as the current works its magic. Sometimes you see flecks of solids and bubbles of gas appear as your body is "cleansed". Well, this is an old parlor trick, a nice chemistry-classroom demonstration, and, of course, a highly profitable scam...

How does it work? You place your feet in a bowl of water to which a bit of salt has been added. A small electric current is passed between two electrodes immersed in the water, which soon becomes quite discolored. The color, of course, comes from electrolytic corrosion of the metal electrodes. These are usually made of iron, nickel, and copper, all of which decompose into highly-colored ions; these colors will vary with the amount of salt present and the pH of the solution.

By-products of the electrolysis process are bubbles of hydrogen and chlorine gases (both of which are dangerous in confined spaces) and sodium hydroxide, commonly known as "lye". The latter tends to soften skin, allowing it to flake off, pick up various colors on reacting with the metal ions, and complete the illusion that one usually pays dearly for: individual treatments can be from $50 up, and the grossly overpriced power supply "machines" sold for home use can go for as much as $1000. And of course, all that really gets cleaned out is your wallet! ..."

From Post #1 at: http://goldismoney.info/forums/showthread.php?t=98088