The claims for Jim Humble's Miracle Mineral Supplement - purportedly effective against cancer, AIDS, arthritis, malaria, acne, erectile dysfunction and a score of other ailments - are as astounding as those for any old-fashioned snake oil. But the octogenarian's miraculous elixir isn't snake oil. It's sodium chlorite, a potent chemical used in pesticides, fracking and fabric bleaching and which, authorities warn, can potentially be fatal if swallowed.

As archbishop of the Genesis 2 Church of Health and Healing, a "non-religious" church whose sacraments include consumption of the supplement, Humble claims more than 1,000 acolytes throughout the world. And while federal and state authorities in the United States have targeted sale of the purportedly health-promoting substance, Humble seems to have sidestepped such complications by giving away his product in return for a designated donation.

Beginning Friday, under the direction of Bishop Shane Hawkins, a former Angleton firearms dealer, the church will conduct a three-day seminar on the medical virtues of the chemical at a Houston-area hotel. Admission at the door: a $500 donation.

Attendees will hear the story of "the world's most important broad-spectrum, nontoxic anti-microbial agent," and testimonials about its efficacy. They will mix a personal batch of the chemical - "we provide the materials, bowls, scales, etc., to have you do it yourself," a promotional Web post says - and sample the results.

"We don't give interviews," Hawkins said Wednesday, when contacted about the weekend event. He directed inquiries to an email address, which brought no immediate response.

Humble, though, who has lived in Kingwood as well as California, Nevada, Ohio and, most recently, reportedly, Latin America, is amply represented on the Internet, where he talks about aspects of his career. He claims to have discovered the value of his solution by using it to cure malaria during a 1996 gold-mining expedition in South America.

Humble also claims that through a process of manipulating water, he created gold and platinum.

'Harmful if ingested'

Lyndsay Meyer, a spokeswoman for the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, said 16 adverse reactions and one death have been linked to medicinal use of the chemical, which also has been purveyed by individuals not thought linked to the church.

The agency in 2010 issued a warning that ingesting the chemical, which is to be mixed with citrus juice to form chlorine dioxide, can lead to nausea, vomiting, diarrhea and symptoms of severe dehydration.

Humble's elixir is classified as a supplement, Meyer said, not a drug, and the agency's regulatory authority over it is limited to "post-market review" of adverse events and false claims. "The FDA is not aware of any research that (Miracle Mineral Supplement) is effective in treating any of these conditions," the agency said of sellers' health claims.

In Houston, Dr. Amitava Dasgupta, a toxicologist at the University of Texas Medical School, seconded the FDA warning.

"This is a strong oxidant that, acting as a bleach, may be harmful if ingested," he said. "To my knowledge, there is no scientific evidence showing the safety of this product."

The Texas Attorney General's Office said Wednesday that it has received one complaint against the Genesis 2 Church, alleging Humble's group is a "cult" and reiterating that medicinal use of the substance is hazardous. The agency declined to specify what action might be taken regarding the complaint, which was filed by an autistic Virginia man.

Charges in other states

Last summer, the Illinois attorney general's office charged that a sodium chlorite booster, Kerri Rivera, had violated the state's consumer fraud act with her claims that the chemical was a miracle cure for autism. Rivera, who lives in Mexico, entered into a voluntary agreement with the state not to sell the chemical in Illinois or appear at events in that state promoting its use.

In October, a Spokane, Wash., man was sentenced to 51 months in federal prison after he was convicted of a series of offenses linked to his sale of sodium chlorite as a medical preparation on the Internet. The man had provided instructions for the substance's use that claimed nausea, vomiting and diarrhea were signs the miracle cure was working. While admitting there was a slight risk of brain damage, he said the product still might be used by pregnant women and infants.

"Consumers," said Benjamin Mizer, principal deputy assistant attorney general in charge of the U.S. Justice Deparment's Civil Division, , "have the right to expect that the medicines that they purchase are safe and effective."

In an Internet video from South America, Humble dismissed the FDA's concerns over gastrointestinal distress as bureaucratic overreactions to "stomachaches."

"Five hundred thousand people died from taking FDA-approved drugs," he fulminated. "It's so ridiculous. It doesn't make any sense at all - all these reports of health injuries. A couple of stomachaches is a health injury. ... I've got to admit that's as crazy a thing as any agency has ever done."

It its promotional Web posting, the Genesis 2 Church asserts, "We are a congregation of humans who believe we have a spiritual mission to save mankind."

Overnight healing

Humble claimed on the Web that his formula "is able to overcome most diseases known to mankind."

Testimonials for Miracle Mineral Supplement tell of the triumph over "liver flukes," overnight recovery from the flu and immediate recovery from burns.

On Amazon.com, reviewers of Humble's book "The Master Mineral Solution of the Third Millennium" - which earned a four-star average from 126 reviews - rose to the treatment's defense.

"Together we are building a community of truth-tellers as individually we heal," wrote one.