Policy issues

Chlorine chemistry plays a vital role in the economy, rail transportation, and much more. Learn more about key chlorine chemistry issues through these links to the American Chemistry Council site:

Economy

Energy

Public Health

Rail transportation

Chlorine is produced in a few places, but it’s needed everywhere. The chlorine industry and the public rely on our country’s rail system to transport chlorine safely and efficiently. Explore the links below to learn more about this important issue.

Articles and Visual Aids

Video

Did you know?

A 2004 study of disease rates in US cities found clean water to be the reason for the rapid decline in urban death rates during the late 19th and early 20th centuries. By 1941, 85% of US cities treated their municipal supplies with chlorine, to the great benefit of public health.
Dr. John L. Leal, physician and public health expert, pioneered continuous water chlorination in 1908 in Jersey City, New Jersey.
Cholera, typhoid fever, dysentery, and hepatitis A killed thousands in the U.S. annually before water chlorination and filtration became a routine part of municipal water treatment
Chlorine chemistry is critical in the manufacture of almost 90% of the top-selling prescription medications sold in the US and Canada
Chlorine chemistry eliminates bacteria, mold, and algae from reservoirs, water mains, and storage tanks.
Chlorine chemistry helps reduce bad tastes and odors in drinking water.
Chlorine chemistry is effective in controlling dangerous pathogens including Ebola and hospital “superbugs.”
The chlorine industry supplies over 160,000 jobs in the US alone.
Chlorine is found in soils, minerals, plants, animals, and seawater.

Source: The Chlorine Revolution: The History of Water Disinfection and the Fight to Save Lives by Michael J. McGuire.

Q&A

What is chlorine chemistry?

“Chlorine chemistry” is a term used to describe the broad use of chlorine—not just the element itself, but also chlorine-based compounds—in manufacturing processes. Chlorine may or may not appear in an end product, but it is essential to the manufacture of myriad products.

What makes bleach an environmentally responsible choice?

As bleach destroys germs, at least 95% of it degrades into salty water. Wastewater treatment facilities use bleach to destroy oxygen-robbing contaminants found in sewage, helping to preserve the quality of our nation’s rivers and streams into which the treated wastewater is legally discharged by permit.

What kind of germs does bleach destroy?

Bleach kills a wide range of disease-causing bacteria, viruses, and even parasitic protozoa, making it an effective surface disinfectant to use in homes, hospitals, nursing homes, schools, day cares, and food production facilities.

What’s the difference between chlorine and bleach?

While chlorine is an element, bleach is a solution of a compound called sodium hypochlorite. It’s essentially “chlorine to go”—a convenient solution for destroying germs. Both elemental chlorine and liquid bleach are effective “germ busters.”

Why is chlorine in our drinking water?

Chlorine destroys disease-causing germs in raw, natural, water. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) requires treated tap water to contain a detectable (residual) level of chlorine to protect water from recontamination as it flows from the treatment plant to consumers’ taps. Chlorine is the most commonly used drinking water disinfectant in the world.

How is chlorine produced?

When salt combines with water and electricity is applied to that solution, chlorine is released. This is known as the “chlor-alkali process.”

Where does chlorine come from?

Chlorine is one of the most abundant, naturally-occurring chemical elements on Earth, and is present in soils, minerals, plants and animals. . Seawater is a huge reservoir of dissolved chloride, weathered from the continents and transported to the oceans via the Earth’s streams, rivers, and groundwater.

Why is chlorine important?

It has powerful disinfectant qualities that come from its ability to bond with and destroy the outer surfaces of germs like bacteria and viruses. Chlorine is also essential for the manufacturing of polyvinyl chloride (PVC or vinyl), top-selling pharmaceuticals, crop protection chemicals, electronics, and much more.

How and when was chlorine discovered?

In 1774, Swedish pharmacist Carl Wilhelm Scheele placed drops of hydrochloric acid onto a piece of manganese dioxide and saw a greenish-yellow gas form.

In 1810, that greenish-yellow gas was proven to be an element by English chemist Sir Humphrey Davy, who created the name “chlorine” from the Greek word “khloros,” meaning greenish-yellow.

What is chlorine?

Chlorine is a chemical element represented by the symbol “Cl.” It’s used to produce thousands of essential products ranging from drinking water disinfectants to solar panels to knee joint replacements.

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