Overview. Chlorine (Cl2) is a greenish-yellow gas with a pungent, irritating odor. Exposure to low levels of chlorine can result in nose, throat, and eye irritation . At higher levels, breathing chlorine gas may result in changes in breathing rate and coughing, and damage to the lungs.
What are the hazardous properties of chlorine?
Chlorine gas 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. This element is a part of the halogen series forming salts.
Why is chlorine so dangerous?
Chlorine is a respiratory irritant , and inhaling it may cause pulmonary edema — an excessive buildup of fluid in the lungs that can lead to breathing difficulties. The gas can also cause eye and skin irritation, or even severe burns and ulcerations, according to the New York State Department of Health.
Is chlorine dangerous to touch?
Chlorine poisoning can occur when you touch , swallow, or inhale chlorine. Chlorine reacts with water outside of the body and on mucosal surfaces inside your body — including the water in your digestive tract — causing hydrochloric acid and hypochlorous acid to form.
Is chlorine a hazardous material?
Chlorine is a common hazardous material found in most communities in the United States as a gas or in compound with other chemicals that can release the chlorine when in contact with water or other chemicals.
What neutralizes chlorine?
VITAMIN C DECHLORINATION
Two forms of vitamin C, ascorbic acid and sodium ascorbate, will neutralize chlorine.
What is the IDLH of chlorine?
Basis for revised IDLH: The revised IDLH for chlorine is 10 ppm based on acute inhalation toxicity data in humans [Freitag 1941; ILO 1971; NPIRI 1983].
What are 5 uses of chlorine?
- Water. Chlorine chemistry helps keep drinking water and swimming pools safe. ...
- Household Disinfectant. ...
- Food. ...
- Healthcare. ...
- Energy and Environment. ...
- Advanced Technology. ...
- Building and Construction. ...
- Defense and Law Enforcement.
What is the importance of chlorine?
Chlorine kills bacteria – it is a disinfectant. It is used to treat drinking water and swimming pool water. It is also used to make hundreds of consumer products from paper to paints, and from textiles to insecticides.
Should you wash chlorine off?
Although it's important to shower off any residual bugs that might have got through the chlorinated neutralising process, it's most important to shower the chlorine off your skin to prevent damage from those harsh pool chemicals.
Is it bad to swim in chlorine everyday?
Chlorine can also cause health issues such as increased risk of developing allergies or asthma in kids. And among adults, exposure to chlorine in pools has been linked to bladder and rectal cancer and increased risk for coronary heart disease.
Can a pool turn green from too much chlorine?
When the levels are properly balanced, chlorine will keep the algae at bay, but the water will slowly begin to turn green as the algae take over if there's not enough. But be careful— adding too much chlorine in pool water can cause those metals to oxidize and turn the pool a different shade of green.
Is chlorinated water safe to drink?
Is chlorinated water safe to drink? Yes . The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) limits the amount of chlorine in drinking water to levels that are safe for human consumption. The levels of chlorine used for drinking water disinfection are unlikely to cause long-term health effects.
What are the long-term effects of chlorine?
Long-term (chronic) effects:
Long-term exposure to low levels of chlorine gas is potentially linked to diseases of the lung (bronchitis, shortness of breath, possible permanent damage) and tooth corrosion . No cancer or reproductive effects have been reported from chronic exposure to chlorine.
Does skin absorb chlorine?
The body does not absorb chlorine well . However, small amounts can pass through the skin when people are exposed to chlorine gas, chlorine bleach, or bathing in water with high levels of chlorine. Lower levels of exposure can occur when people handle soil or water containing chlorine.
