Chlorine: Making a Splash, World Wide!

Chlorine: Making a Splash, World Wide!
An Internet Hotlist on Chlorine

created by katietroiano09

Introduction

Image from
http://www.webelements.com/webelements/elements/media/element-pics/Cl.jpg c/

Discovery/History: Chlorine was first discovered in Sweden, by Carl Wilhelm Scheele, in 1774. He came across this elemen 'through the reaction of the mineral pyrolusite (manganese dioxide, MnO2) with hydrochloric acid (HCl, then known as muriatic acid).' However, it was not until 1810 that Chlorine actually became an element. Sir Humphry Davy confirmed Chlorine to be an element and he also named it.
Symbol=Cl Atomic Number=17, Atomic Mass=35.4527amu
Physical Properties: Greenish-yellow gas, boiling point=-29 degrees F, melting point=-149.51 degrees F
Chemical Properties:Chlorine reacts with many elements,both metal and nonmetal. It also reacts explosively or forms explosive compounds with susbstances like acetylene, turpentine,ammonia, etc.
Toxicity: Chlorine is a toxic gas that irritates the respitory system. People are most commonly exposed to chlorine by breathing in the air, drinking/eating, and touching. Some symptoms of cholrine exposure include: coughing, chest pain, vomiting, etc.
Uses: Chlorine is mostly commonly used to clean swimming pools, water, other things in most households. Chlorine is and was also used in many wars; it was used in World War I and is being used in the Iraqi War.
Manufacturing/Production: Chlorine is one of the most manufactured elements in the US; it is used to help manufacture paper goods, rubber, textiles, insect repelent, etc.
Interesting/Random Information: There are over 100 companies/groups that are working to find new and efficient ways to use chlorine to make new products, etc.
Look around and enjoy the rest of the site!

The Internet Resources

Basic Information

Chem-Society Chlorine - This site starts off giving what it calls 'general information.' It briefly talks about the discovery of chlorine; it was discovered in 1774 by C.W. Scheele in Uppsala Sweden. The site then goes on to breifly disscuss the appearence, the source, the uses, and the biological role. Chlorine is not freely found in nature, 'but combined chiefly with sodium as sodium chloride in common salt...' Chlorine is also 'widely used in many areas.' It is used in the production of safe drinking water, paper, dyestuffs, medicines, antiseptics, etc. Chlorine has many different roles, in terms of it's biological roles. 'The chloride ion is essential to life.' But, also talks about it's toxicty in relation to the biological role. The site goes on to give physical information, and key isotopes. This website gives a wide veritiy, and the information is useful. Although, all of the topics that are covered are disccssed in breif. Rating: 7.5 chlorine bubbles
Jefferson's Lab Chlorine - This site is the shortest site I have come across thus far. It just barely touches upon the basic information about chlorine, but does manage to talk about chlorine compounds and other numerical information. It provides the basic information that most sites do, atomic number, atomic weight, melting point, boiling point, etc. It talks about the discovery of chlorine, and goes into some detail about the people who discovered it. It also talks about two of the most common chlorine compounds (NaCl and HCl), and the estimated crustal and oceanic abundance (1.45x 102 milligrams per kilogram and 1.94x104 milligrams per liter). The site is very, very short, and if it is meant to give a brief overview of chlorine as an element it leaves out the more important information that one would expect to see. Rating: 4 chlorine bubbles
Periodic Chlorine - This website covers the basic information, but does not go into much detail. It would be a useful if you didn't need to do a project or write a paper, but were curious. It's divided into seven very short sections; basic periodic table information, history, sources, properties, uses, and handling. Interesting facts from some of those sections are as follows: chlorine is a respiratory irritant, the gas irritates the mucus membranes and the liquid burns the skin. Chlorine’s electron configuration is [Ne] 3s23p5, and its atomic radius is 99pm. When Chlorine was first discovered by Scheele, he thought that it contained oxygen. Although this site does provide basic information and is well organized and laid out, as I said before, I don’t think it provides enough information even about the basics. Rating: 4 chlorine bubbles
Periodic Table: Chlorine - This site is not appealing to look at and makes the reader less enthused about learning new and interesting facts about chlorine. Just like most of sites, it gives a verision of 'basic information,' including, name, symbol, atomic number, atomic mass (35.4537 amu), melting point (-100.98 C), boiling point (-34.6 C, number of protons and electrons (17), etc. Then there is a Atomic Structure picture and basic facts explaining it; there are three energy levels. On the first, there are two electrons, on the second there are eight, and on the last there are seven. After the Atomic Structure picture, there is a table showing different cholrine isotopes and their half life. The last portion of the site gives random facts about Chlorine, including that the name Chlorine comes from the Greek word khloros, which means green. This site gives some good facts, but overall is boring and it doesn't cover more than the basic information. Rating: 4.5 chlorine bubbles
Web Elements Chlorine - This website gives the 'essential information' about Chlorine; like the atomic number (17), the group number (17), the group name (Halogens), and the block (p-block) along with other things. The site also gives a brief physical description of Chlorine, including its natural state (gas, the color (greenish-yellow),and the classification (non-metalic). The last section of the website fouces on a brief summary of the isolation of chlorine. Overall, this website is adequate for finding basic facts, but at times seems scattered. Rating: 6 chlorine bubbles

Chlorine and Your Health

CDC (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention) Chlorine - If appearance were the only factor determining the quality of website, this one wouldn’t be very impressive. It’s very bland looking, but it has a lot of important information. The site focuses mainly on Chlorine and your health. The information is presented in a very organized manor, using bullet points to help make the information clear, to the point, and easy to take in. The site is broken into eight sections, each covering a different topic about chlorine and your health. A brief overview of some of the information: people’s risk for exposure depends on how close they are to the place where the chlorine was released. The extent of poisoning caused by chlorine depends on the amount of chlorine a person is exposed to, how the person was exposed, and the length of time of the exposure. During or immediately after exposure to dangerous concentrations of chlorine, the following symptoms may develop: coughing, chest tightness, burning sensation in the nose, throat, and eyes, watery eyes, etc. Long term complications from chlorine exposure aren’t usually found in people, unless they suffer pneumonia during therapy. Overall this site is very useful for nurses, doctors, and people that are interested in the specifics of chlorine. Rating: 8.5 chlorine bubbles.
Department of Family Services and Health Chlorine - This site is dedicated to providing facts about chlorine and it’s toxicity to help keep families safe. It gives a brief overview about what chlorine is, and then explains the three most common ways people are exposed to chlorine (breathing, drinking/eating, and touching). The most interesting and unique things about this website was the sections that explains the standards for regulating chlorine. The proposed federal drinking water standard for chlorine is 4ppm (parts per million), there are no standards on the amount of chlorine allowed in the air, however, using formulas the state recommends that levels of chlorine in the air of should not exceed 0.01ppm in your house or the workplace. The site then talks about the specific effects of chlorine exposure on the different parts and systems of your body. This site provides specific information about a few topics that would be useful to know for your household and while you’re working. There isn’t a ton of information but it’s important for the Department of Health to address these issues. Rating: 6.5 chlorine bubbles

Chlorine and the Enviroment

American Chemistry--Chlorine - American Chemistry is a organization and team of people that represent the companies that make the products that make modern life possible, while working to protect the environment, public health, and security of the nation. They have a special chlorine chemistry division. The page is very short, mainly because they have so many other big problems and questions to investigate and answer. The website “highlights the benefits of chlorine chemistry and offers consumer tips for using some common chlorinated products. It also presents information on chlorine chemistry health and environmental issues.” The AC Chlorine Chemistry Division represents the major users and producers of chlorine in the US. It is a very interesting site because it holds so much information about things that we would otherwise disregard. The information is very well presented and organized and the chlorine page provides good insight about their company and other links about chlorine. Rating: 9 chlorine bubbles
American Chemisty-- Chlorine Tree - This website is called “The Chlorine Tree.” It is a link provided by the American Chemistry Organization. It has three sections, ‘The Chlorine Tree’ (which provides information about the production of chlorine, and how chemical innovation transforms a common element into “a critical component of myriad uses.”), ‘The Sodium Hydroxide Tree’ (sodium hydroxide is co-produced with chlorine, and through its own chemistry provides a wide array of products), and ‘Beneficial Uses’ (a link or “tree” that gives facts about how chlorine-chemistry benefits society). The actual trees themselves provide a great amount of fabulous information about the benefits of chlorine and sodium hydroxide and chlorine-chemistry in our society. It mostly talks about the different products that can be produced with the help of chlorine and sodium hydroxide. It also goes into depth about some of the chemical processes that take place while making those products. Rating: 9.5 chlorine bubbles
Environmental Chemistry Chlorine - This website is set up almost like a newspaper article. The appearance of the site is alright, although the colors are a bit drab and the information is packed together making it harder to absorb. The amount of information, however, is good. The information is broken up into three different pages; page one focuses the basic information, like physical and chemical properties, chlorine’s name in other languages, atomic structure, uses, etc. The second page is all about Nuclides/Isotopes and potential parent nuclides. This page consists only of charts and other numbers. Page three is dedicated to common chemical compounds of chlorine. Like page two, this page is also a lot of formulas and numbers, which if you can understand them, can be very useful. The website consists of more numerical information than actual writing. Some specific information found on the site is: chorine’s name in other languages (Latin: Chlorum, Czech: Chlor, Croatian: Klor, etc.), crystal structure (orthorhombic), and abundance of chlorine (Earth’s crust/p.p.m: 130, seawater/p.p.m.: 18000, atmosphere/p.p.m.: N/A) Overall this site is chalk full of information, but for everyday people who have not studied chemistry or physics, it would be hard to make sense out of a lot of it. Rating: 7 Chlorine bubbles
Euro Chlorine - Euro Chlor’s is a website based out of the UK. It is a whole site dedicated to Chlorine. It has newspaper articles and information about chlorine use, European chlorine industry, and chlorine’s effect on your health. Euro Chlor’s is actually a production-oriented technical organization that was founded over 40 years ago. They work together to provide the UK and other European countries with the technology and knowledge so that chlorine can be used in a productive beneficial way. The site also gives some detailed information about the production of chlorine; chlorine is made from common salt and water. Chlorine is part of a group called halogens. “The world ‘halogen’ originates from the Greek roots: hal means ‘salt’ and gen means ‘to produce,’ so all the chemical in that group including chlorine produce sodium salts. Chlorine is also one of the most common elements in nature. That is just a quick look at the kind of information you will find on this site. The rest, as stated before, is directly related to Europe and its use and production of chlorine in products, etc. This site doesn’t give a lot of information about chlorine as an element, but it’s interesting to learn about how it’s being used in other areas of the world. It was also interesting to find a group dedicated to the development and research of chlorine; it shows how important it can be. Rating: 8 chlorine bubbles
Lenntech Chlorine - This website is short and bland. It focuses on the environmental, and health effects and touches briefly on the chemical properties. Some examples of the types of information you’ll find in each section are as follows: Chlorine dissolves when mixed with water. It can escape from the water and enter into the air under certain conditions. Most direct releases of chlorine into the environment are due to air and surface water. Also, people who use laundry bleach and swimming pool chemicals containing chlorine products are usually not exposed to chlorine itself. Chlorine is generally found in industrial settings, and is usually inhaled. As said before, the appearance is very bland; it doesn’t catch your eye or make you interested in reading further. Once you get past the appearance, the information is good, but doesn’t go into much detail. Rating: 4.5 Chlorine bubbles
Scordcard Chlorine, Pollution Information Site - This site is very strangely laid out. It is organized, but it’s unclear what the objective of the site is. It provides you with a table of contents titles “Chemical Profile for CHLORINE (CAS Number 7782-50-5)” you can then click on different links specific to certain information. The links include information about human health hazards, hazard rankings, chemical use profiles, etc. Some of the information that is provided as part of the links is not specific to chlorine, or it says they do not have enough information. The only information that was clearly presented on the website about chlorine was the “Ranking of Toxic Release Inventory” for Chlorine. It went through each of the 50 states and ranked the states highest to lowest in terms of the amount of chlorine released into the environment, surprisingly Massachusetts was one of the lowest states. Overall this website was not helpful at all, partly because it is a pollution information site but also because its page supposedly dedicated to chlorine barley had any information about chlorine on it. Also, although the information was organized, it was hard to understand because there weren’t any formal explanations. Rating: 3 chlorine bubbles

Chlorine and Swimming Pools

How Stuff Works, Chlorine and Swimming Pools - “How Stuff Works” is an informational site for kids; they can type in questions about mostly anything and the site provides them with a semi-detailed, well written answer. This page answers the question “How does chlorine work to clean swimming pools?” This page explains that chlorine is often the most widely used cleaning agent for Jacuzzi’s and swimming pools. The site goes on to briefly explain the “simple chemical reaction” that takes in your pool killing the bacteria. It says that the chlorine solution you pour into your pool breaks down into many different chemicals “including hypochlorous acid (HOCl) and hypochlorite ion (OCI-), which both kills microorganisms and bacteria. It then goes on to explain HOCl and OCI in more detail. It also talks briefly about the hazards of putting to much chlorine in your swimming pool, symptoms of chlorine exposure while swimming and some other interesting links about chlorine alternatives and chlorine in pools. This site is excellent if you have any specific questions about chlorine and swimming pools, or swimming pools in general. Rating: 8.5 chlorine bubbles

Random Information

Chlorine Drinkers, Cartoon Page - This website is not a site about chlorine, it’s a cartoon website. Someone made a cartoon about chlorine, called “Chlorine Drinkers.” It doesn’t really make a ton of sense, but it does have to do with the uses of chlorine. It’s a cartoon of a bunch of old men in a swimming pool with straws drinking the pool water. Underneath the picture it says “Oh No! Chlorine Drinkers!” I thought it was pretty funny. Rating: 8 chlorine bubbles
Wikipedia Chlorine - Wikipedia is a collblaortive site, written by vollenterrs from all over the world. Most of the time the information on Wikipedia is accurate, but sometimes facts are replaced with silly statements. For example, someone wrote that soilders in World War I described Chlorine gas as smelling like a mixture between pepper and pineapple--which we all know is not the case. Wikipedia also discusses the use of Chlorine in the Iraqi War, (used by insurgents as a chemical weapon to terrorize the local population and coalition forces). The site then goes on to talk about Chlorine's isotopes, notable characterists, occurence, production, oxidation states, uses, and saftey. Interesting facts from some of those sections are as follows: Chlorine exists in all odd numbered oxidation states -1 to +7, higher concentrations of Chlorine are found in the Dead Sea, and elemental chorine is an oxidizer. Rating: 5 Chlorine bubbles

Content by katietroiano09
http://www.kn.att.com/wired/fil/pages/listchlorineka.html
Last revised Sun Dec 16 19:11:52 US/Pacific 2007