The interaction of hypochlorite (HOCl/OCl-) with tert-butyl hydroperoxide ((CH3)3COOH) was investigated by chemiluminescence. It was shown that the addition of HOCl/OCl- to (CH3)3COOH induces a fast chemiluminescent flash. The intensity of this flash increases with the increase in both HOCl/OCl- and (CH3)3COOH concentration. The chemiluminescence is quenched in a concentration-dependent manner in the presence of free radical spin traps N-tert-butyl nitrone and alpha-(4-pyridyl-1-oxyl)-N-tert-butyl nitrone. This fact proves that free radicals take part in the interaction of HOCl/OCl- and (CH3)3COOH. Hypochlorite yielded a very similar chemiluminescence spectrum in its reaction with (CH3)3COOH as Ce4+. It differed considerably from the spectrum in the system H2O2 and HOCl/OCl-. It is well known that the interaction of Ce4+ and (CH3)3COOH produces peroxyl radicals. These results confirm the hyothesis that the interaction of HOCl/OCl- and (CH3)3COOH is mediated by peroxyl radicals. Thus, organic hydroperoxides always present in unsaturated lipids can induce lipid peroxidation processes in the reaction with HOCl/OCl-.