CHLORINE IN THE WORLD
CHLORINE IN NATURE
Chlorine is quit abundant in nature, there is more chlorine (0.19%) in
the earth crust than carbon (0.08%). Almost all of that chlorine is in
bounded form: salt in the oceans and in thick layers all around the world
contains sixty percent of chlorine, the rest is sodium. Huge amounts -
but small concentrations - of bounded chlorine (salt and hydrochloric acid)
are travelling with the winds from sea to land. So also on land you will
find chlorine everywhere in air and ground. Small parts of the hydrochloric
acid are oxidised to elementary chlorine, which gives the nice looking
green roofs with copper on buildings near the sea.
All life on earth started in salted oceans and still nearly all life
on earth needs salt to survive. Too much salt is a deadly poison, not enough
salt is deadly too. Our blood contains salt, our stomach uses hydrochloric
acid - derived from salt - for the digestion of our food. And when we are
attacked by bacteria, white blood cells produce a powerful chlorinating
and oxidising agent from salt: hypochlorite to kill the invaders.
NATURAL ORGANOCHLORINES
Most environmental groups deny or underestimate the amount of organochlorines
made by nature: until now, about 1700 organochlorines are found in or made
by different species. Also dioxins, PCB's
and other stuff that according to them should be banned from our earth,
form as a result of natural wood fires. Sometimes the quantities are quite
high. The breakdown of wood by fungi and mushrooms uses organochlorines,
which results in an amount of chlorinated residues, mainly chlorophenols.
The
concentration of organochlorines in the ground in forests is therefore
seven times higher than what is allowed by legislation in The Netherlands!
That these are entirely natural was proven by the Agricultural University
of Wageningen [78]: With the addition of radio-labeled
chlorine in salt, they found that 30-35% of the chlorophenols and 30-35%
of the chlorinated dioxins was made with the radio-labeled chlorine after
one year...
From chlorophenols to dioxins is only a small step in nature: lots of
bacteria do make hydrogen peroxide, which can do the job. The average amount
of dioxins in ground of woods is higher than that found in industrial or
highly urbanised areas - except for some hot spots - and is much higher
than the levels found in open fields and grassland.
There is a lot of resistance to waste incinerators. In fact, the worst
of them give in the exhaust about the same amount of dioxins as what was
in the input, although this will be concentrated on the nearby surroundings.
A well equipped incinerator, at the contrary, reduces the amount of dioxin
a hundred to a thousandfold.
On the other hand, biological composting of organic garbage or sludge,
triples the amount of dioxins... In paper and cardboard, the amount of
dioxins augments during their lifetime, even when these were made from
100% chlorine free manufactured pulp. In this way, recycled paper contains
tens to hundreds times more dioxins than fresh paper.
CHLORINE IN INDUSTRY
About 60% of all chemical activities uses chlorine in either a direct or
indirect way. This is not by accident, but this is because, in many cases,
chlorine acts as an energy pump. It is a very reactive element, making
reactions possible, which otherwise should use more energy, more unrenewable
resources, give more (dangerous) waste, more pollution, would be more unsafe
for workers and/or users and give a lower quality for a higher price.
Chlorine is used to make more than 10,000 products, you can say that
about 95% of all what you have as consumer products is in some way made
with chlorine. To give you an impression where it is used:
THE USE OF CHLORINE
-
Medicines
-
Over 80% of all medicine and synthetic vitamins are made by chlorine and
in 30% of the medicine, chlorine is an indispensable part of it.
-
Disinfectants
-
Chlorine is used as a cheap, reliable disinfectant in swimming pools and
in drinking water, especially in the third world.
-
Plastics
-
Chlorine is used to make versatile plastics like PVC
(with a lot of uses like bloodbags, cable insulation, creditcards, leather
imitation, pipes for water and gas, windowframes, packaging for food and
pharmaceuticals, impermeable linings for deposits, basements and tunnels)
and PVDC, used for special packaging.
-
Catalists
-
Chlorine is used to make catalysts for the production of high density and
linear low density polyethylene (HDPE,
LLDPE)
and polypropylene (PP).
-
Intermediate(s)
-
Chlorine is an intermediate in the processes to make polyurethane's (PU
for mattresses), polycarbonate (PC for CD's,
aeroplane windows and many temperature resistant kitchen utensils), carboxymethylcellulose
(CMC used as absorbent in napkins), epoxy
(paints and glues), silicones (highly resistant sealants, rubbers, lubricants),
Teflon (bakery),...
-
Solvents
-
Chlorine is used in non-flammable solvents for degreasing and dry-cleaning.
-
Bleaching
-
Chlorine is/was used in the bleaching of pulp for the paper industry and
cotton.
-
Metallurgy
-
Chlorine is used in metallurgy to make titan (rockets), aluminium, magnesium,
nickel (stainless steel) and last but not least silicon in very pure form
used to make the electronic chips, which makes the Internet work!
Those who want to have chlorine out of industry either don't know the consequences
of what they are saying, or they know it and their aim is to go farther
than the use of chlorine: those people want all (chemical) factories closed,
whether that is good for nature and/or mankind or not.
THE CHLORINE ALTERNATIVES
In many cases, chlorine and chlorinated products can be replaced by chlorine-free
processes or chlorine-free products, sometimes this can be beneficial for
the environment, but in many cases, especially for PVC, where a lot of
investigations were done, known and controlled dangers are exchanged for
(un)known dangers, which can have a much higher impact on man and nature.
CONCLUSION
Chlorine-free or PVC-free are not synonyms for better for the environment!
You are at level one of the Chlorophiles pages.
Created: March 10, 1996.
Last update: September 8, 1998.
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