​The Toxic Effects of Chlorine

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From swimming pools to poison gas, chlorine is used throughout lives of many, but many people do not realize the toxicity that chlorine can have at certain levels. This paper will explore the uses, structure and properties, routes of exposure, source, toxic effects, and metabolism of chlorine. As well as give precautions and tips to protect you from the toxic effects of chlorine.
The uses of chlorine vary greatly and it is often found in many items around the house. Chlorine is used every summer in pools due to its effectiveness in killing bacteria, and many pools use chlorine in its liquid state. In plastics chlorine is used in the formation of Polyvinyl chloride. PVC is used throughout much of our construction industry, such as for doors, flooring, window frames, and panels. In medicine and safety, chlorine is often used in pharmaceuticals in the synthesis of an active ingredient or by making organic compounds water soluble. Chlorine also has high tech uses. Chlorine is used in the making of many car parts, as well as CDs and DVDs. The titanium airplane parts utilize chlorine in their production. Commercially chlorine is in thousands of products used to clean around the house. For cleaning, chlorine is used to disinfect by the process of disassociation. When mixed with water two acids form hypochlorous acid and hydrochlorous acid. The hypochlorous acid is the active acid and reacts with bacteria by breaking down their cell walls, this in turn leaves the enzyme unprotected and cell death ensues. The chlorine levels in the mixture are then changed into chloramines, which results in a decrease in chlorine levels as microorganism and bacteria are killed. With many of the uses of chlorine, special precautions should be taken. Durin...

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... plastics and rubbers. If there is a gas leak people should move to well ventilated areas and if significant inhalation occurs, then oxygen should be administered. Chlorine is a heavy gas and will move closer to the ground and collect in enclosed, poorly ventilated areas (Department of Health, 2014).
In conclusion chlorine is an amazing molecule, which is utilized in so many things that enhance our daily lives. Even with all its amazing properties, chlorine should be handled with care and special precaution should be taken whenever using and working around this chemical. This report showed that the uses of chlorine are not always for good, that the toxicity can be great and detrimental to the lungs, as well as skin and eyes. With proper precautions, chlorine can continue to be used as a chemical that helps disinfect, as well as be formed in to even better compounds.

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