Chlorine

Chlorine (from the Greek language Chloros, meaning "pale green"), is the chemical element with atomic number 17 and symbol Cl. It is a halogen, found in the periodic table in group 17. As part of common salt and other compounds, it is abundant in nature and necessary to most forms of life, including the human body. As chlorine gas, it is greenish yellow, is two and one half times as heavy as air, has an intensely disagreeable suffocating odor, and is exceedingly poisonous. In its liquid and solid form it is a powerful oxidizing, bleaching, and disinfecting agent.

Precautions

Chlorine irritates respiratory systems especially in children and the elderly. In its gaseous state it irritates mucous membranes and when a liquid it burns skin. It takes as little as 3.5 ppm to be detected as a distinct odor, but it takes 1000 ppm or more to be fatal. Because of this, chlorine was one of the gases used during World War I as a war gas. (See: Use of poison gas in World War I)

Related Topics:
Mucous membrane - Skin - Ppm - World War I - War gas - Use of poison gas in World War I

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Exposure to this gas should therefore not exceed 0.5 ppm (8-hour time-weighted average - 40 hour week.).

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Acute exposure to high (but non-lethal) concentrations of Chlorine can result in pulmonary edema, or fluid in the lungs, an extremely unpleasant condition. Chronic low-level exposure weakens the lungs, increasing susceptibility to other lung disorders.

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Toxic fumes may be produced when bleach is mixed with urine, ammonia or another cleaning product. These fumes consist of a mixture of chlorine gas, chloramine and nitrogen trichloride; therefore these combinations should be avoided.

Related Topics:
Bleach - Urine - Ammonia - Chloramine - Nitrogen trichloride

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See also: Chlorofluorocarbon

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