kengr

Rocket fuel isn't necessarily toxic. Alcohol and gasoline aren't all that toxic.

And RFNA is also known as nitrogen tetroxide.

http://www.answers.com/topic/dinitrogen-tetroxide

Note the safe exposure levels...

Hydogen peroxide from the drugstore is a 3% solution. Rocket fuel is a 99% soluton (or at least over 80% for some lower power setups).

The difference between 35 and 99% is about like the difference for one of those caps from the sort of cap pistol that was aound when we were kids and a stick of dynamite.

H2O2 breaks down into water and free oxygen. It's a powerful oxidizer. the breakdown can be catalyzed by a lot of things, including enzymes found in the body, hemoglobin and rust.

The drugstore stuff foams. the 90+% stuff breaks down into superheated steam and free oxygen. Several hundred degrees worth of superheated. And the oxygen at that temp does about what you'd expect to anything organic.

The Germans used it in some of their attempts at manned rocket planes (like the Me-163 Komet) A fuel leak tended to "dissolve" the pilot (though the other fuel components weren't a lot better).

The shuttle uses hydrazine/nitrogen tetroxide thrusters.