text: Propellant-grade hydrogen peroxide is available to qualified buyers. In typical circumstances, this chemical is sold only to companies or government institutions that have the ability to properly handle and utilize the material. Non-professionals have purchased hydrogen peroxide of 70% or lower concentration (the remaining 30% is water with traces of impurities and stabilizing materials, such as tin salts, phosphates, nitrates, and other chemical additives), and increased its concentration themselves. Distillation is extremely dangerous with hydrogen peroxide; peroxide vapor can not ignite but the released oxygen can ignite any material that it is in contact with, detonation is possible depending on specific combinations of temperature and pressure, the detonation is the result of rapid reactive evaporation of the liquid resulting in high temperature and pressure resulting in a violent rupture of the containing vessel. In general, any boiling mass of high-concentration hydrogen peroxide at ambient pressure will produce vapor-phase hydrogen peroxide, which can detonate. This hazard is mitigated, but not eliminated, with vacuum distillation. Other approaches for concentrating hydrogen peroxide are sparging and fractional crystallization.
  Hydrogen peroxide in concentrations of at least 35% appear on the US Department of Homeland Security's  Chemicals of Interest list.
  Safety
  Since many common substances catalyze peroxide's exothermic decomposition into steam and oxygen, handling of HTP requires special care and equipment. It is noted that the common materials iron and copper are incompatible with peroxide, but the reaction can be delayed for seconds or minutes, depending on the grade of peroxide used.
  Small hydrogen peroxide spills are easily dealt with by flooding the area with water. Not only does this cool any reacting peroxide but it also dilutes it thoroughly. Therefore, sites that handle hydrogen peroxide are often equipped with emergency showers, and have hoses and people on safety duty.
  Contact with skin causes immediate whitening due to the production of oxygen below the skin. Extensive burns occur unless washed off in seconds. Contact with eyes can cause blindness, and so eye protection is usually used.
  The Kursk submarine disaster involved the accidental release of HTP in a torpedo which reacted with the torpedo's fuel.