Does chlorine occur naturally?
Typically chlorine does not normally occur in the environment except as a yellow gas on rare occasions. It’s a manufactured substance produced through an industrial process. An electrical current is passed through salt water producing chlorine and caustic soda. Q: Is chlorine very toxic? This is where this topic gets very interesting. Many people argue that chlorine is basically safe-that it breaks down into harmless salt and water. Well, that’s true-in a laboratory test tube under very controlled conditions. The real issue is not just how toxic chlorine itself is but how the unintended byproducts of chlorine (organochlorines and dioxins) remain in the environment. They are persistent in the environment; they do not break down readily and therefore bio-accumulate. Q: Is there a chlorine pollution problem? One of the largest uses of chlorine is in the paper industry. Chlorine is first used to break down the lignan that holds the wood fibers together. Then chlorine is used to bleach the
