Chem expert needed here.....Is Hydrogen Peroxide safe to use with Boric Acid in hot tub based on research of chemical reaction of those two

[duganderson]

I've seen some articles about borates and hydrogen peroxide creating a chemical reaction that can be useful for a variety of chemistry purposes but I don't know enough about chemistry to understand if this reaction would be unsafe in a hot tub. Here are a couple of the articles for the chemists in the group.

Borate-catalyzed reactions of hydrogen peroxide: kinetics and mechanism of the oxidation of organic sulfides by peroxoborates - PubMed

https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/00397919908086017

I occasionally use hydrogen peroxide to lower my free chlorine if it's too high and I'm wanting to use the hot tub. I recently added 50 PPM of boric acid to my hot tub and curious if it's still safe to use hydrogen peroxide occasionally.

Thank you, Doug

 

[CrystalRiver]

How high is your FC getting, that you have to lower it? You should never raise it above SLAM level, as that's hard on the system. It's safe for humans up to SLAM level.

 

[duganderson]

I'm not going above slam level. at times, however, when I shock it, the FC takes too long to come down naturally

 

[tikoh]

I'm not going above slam level. at times, however, when I shock it, the FC takes too long to come down naturally

If you're not going above SLAM levels, then you're safe to swim. How long is it taking to come down? Are you sure you needed to SLAM in the first place?

 

[Arizonarob]

Hang tight. @JoyfulNoise

 

[JoyfulNoise]

There is no reaction between peroxide and borates at the pH and conditions you are operating your hot tub. The peroxyborates are a class of chemical bleaching compounds similar to peroxycarbonates (Oxiclean) where peroxide acts as an adduct to the borate molecule rather than water. You are safe.