ABSTRACT
INTRODUCTION Chlorine (CAS No. 7782-50-5) was the seventh most heavily produced industrial chemical in the United States in 2001, with some 24 billion pounds output that year (1). Chlorine is used in a wide variety of industrial processes, including production of chlorinated solvents and plastics, water purification, battery manufacturing, and food processing (2). Chlorine gas is frequently involved in transportation accidents and so-called “fugitive” industrial emissions, with some 16 million pounds of airborne releases being reported to the EPA in 2002 (3). Chlorine can also be generated by the mixing of common household bleach with acidic cleaning products, leading to potentially serious irritant exposures in the home (4). In sum, chlorine is a widely used industrial chemical whose combined occupational and environmental exposure potential is considerable.
