Highly diluted household bleach solution stops inflammation in the skin that damage and age skin, according to a new study by the Stanford University School of Medicine.

The researchers tested the theory on mice and haven't yet tested it on humans. If tests conducted on humans become successful, the readily available inexpensive household chemical can be used to treat skin damage caused by radiation therapy, excess sun exposure or aging.

"Originally it was thought that bleach may serve an antimicrobial function, killing bacteria and viruses on the skin," said Thomas Leung, MD, PhD, an instructor in dermatology at Stanford and a pediatric dermatologist at Lucile Packard Children's Hospital, in a statement. "But the concentrations used in clinic are not high enough for this to be the sole reason. So we wondered if there could be something else going on."

Leung said that when the bleach is applied on the skin, it blocked the expression of genes regulated by NF-kB cells, which play a critical role in inflammation.

"We found that if we blocked NF-kB activity in elderly laboratory mice by bathing them in the bleach solution, the animals' skin began to look younger," Leung said. "It went from old and fragile to thicker, with increased cell proliferation."

However, the anti-aging effects were short-lived and stopped after 24 hours of the bleach treatment.

In humans, the researchers are planning to focus on other applications of the dilute-bleach.

"It's possible that, in addition to being beneficial to radiation dermatitis, it could also aid in healing wounds like diabetic ulcers," Leung said. "This is exciting because there are so few side effects to dilute bleach ... It could be easy, safe and inexpensive."

"I think that if our human trials show the same changes in mice, everyone will adopt this," Leung told Huffington Post. "It could be really exciting. Economically, this is pennies per treatment and very widely available."

Even though the bleach applications have proved to be safe in mice, Leung has advised users to apply only after their consultation with their doctors.

Prior to this study, bleach solution was known to treat eczema.