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If you have ever taken a prescription medicine , driven a railcar or intoxicated tap water , you likely have been let on to atomic number 17 .
Chlorine , component No . 17on the Periodic Table of Elements , has multiple applications . It is used to unsex drinking water and to disinfect swim pools , and it is used in the manufacturing of a turn of commonly used products , such as paper , material , medicines , paints and charge plate , particularly PVC , according to theRoyal Society of Chemistry . Moreover , chlorine is used in the development and manufacturing of materials used in products that make vehicles lighter , from seat cushions and seat covers to tyre cords and bumpers , accord tothe American Chemistry Council .
Chlorine is a respiratory irritant. Inhaling 1,000 ppm for a few deep breaths can be fatal.
The ingredient is also used in constitutional interpersonal chemistry processes — for example , as an oxidizing agent and a substitution for atomic number 1 , agree to theLos Alamos National Laboratory . An oxidize agent has stiff disinfecting and bleach out qualities . When used as a H substitute , chlorine can bring many desire properties in organic compound , such as its disinfect dimension or its ability to constitute useful compound and materials like PVC and synthetical rubber .
But chlorine also has a dark side : In its natural gas form , it is harmful to human health . Chlorine is a respiratory thorn , and inhaling it may have pulmonary edema — an excessive buildup of fluid in the lungs that can lead to breathing difficulties . The gasolene can also make eye and cutis pique , or even severe burns and ulcerations , agree tothe New York State Department of Health . Exposure to compress liquid chlorine can result in frostbite of the skin and eyes , the agency reports .
Just the facts
Greenish-yellow gas mistaken for oxygen
In 1774 , Swedish pharmacist Carl Wilhelm Scheele released a few drops of hydrochloric acid onto a piece of manganese dioxide in his lab , and a greenish - yellow gas was get in a matter of mo , harmonise tothe American Chemistry Council . However , atomic number 17 was not acknowledge as an element until several decades later , by English chemist Sir Humphry Davy , and before that , people thought it was a compound of atomic number 8 . Davy mention it " khloros , " from Hellenic word for greenish - sensationalistic , and in 1810 , he updated the name to " chloric flatulence , " or " chlorine . "
atomic number 17 belong to the chemical group of halogens — salt - forming element — together with F ( F ) , bromine ( Br ) , iodine ( I ) andastatine(At ) . They are all in the 2d pillar from the right on the periodic table in Group 17 . Their negatron configurations are similar , with seven negatron in their out shell . They are highly responsive elements ; when bonded with hydrogen , they produce acids . None are found in naturein their elementary variety , according to Purdue University . They are typically found as table salt in mineral .
In fact , probably the most known form of a atomic number 17 compound is atomic number 11 chloride , otherwise known as table salt . Other compounds include atomic number 19 chloride , which is used to foreclose or cover low K levels in the stock , and magnesium chloride , which is used to prevent or treat Mg deficiency .
Most chlorine is made via electrolysis of sodium chloride solutions — using an electric electric current to create a chemical reaction , according to theUniversity of York . The summons separates the component .
Who knew?
Research
Chlorine has do quite a stir among research worker over the years because of sure harmful effects it may have on human health . Those effects , however , remain debatable .
Chlorine is one of the atoms in a toxin that some South American frog have in their skin . It can paralyse or even pop large animals , according to the American Chemistry Council . Natives of the Colombian tropic rainforest used to rub the bakshish of their arrow on the skin of these " poison - flit frogs . " John Daly , a scientist at the National Institutes of Health seek to keep apart the compound , called epibatidine , but could not get enough of the substance ( the frogs are endangered ) , and what he did synthesize had undesirable side effects . However , by rearrange the chemical compound on the nuclear level , pill roller hope they can finally find a variation that is a potent pain reliever .
Previous research has linked drink in chlorinate water to an increased Crab risk . For example , in a survey publish in 1992 in the American Journal of Public Health , researchers found thatpeople who drank chlorinated waterhad a 21 per centum high danger of getting bladder Cancer the Crab , and a 38 percent high risk of getting rectal malignant neoplastic disease , than people who drink non - chlorinated water system . And , in another sketch , write in 2010 in the journal Environmental Health Perspectives , investigators found thatpeople who swim in a chlorinated poolfor 40 minutes had increased biomarkers ( i.e. , certain molecular indicator ) related to Cancer the Crab risk . However , a 2017 study published in the same journal found that while there is a higher bladder cancer peril when drink chlorinate weewee , there was little tono evidence linking swimming in a chlorinate consortium and vesica cancerrisk in a work that looked at the numeral of hours in the swimming syndicate during summer and non - summer calendar month and during different age ranges .
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services , the International Agency for Research on Cancer , and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency have not classified atomic number 17 as a human carcinogen , according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention .
So , is Cl bad for your wellness ? Not exactly , said Preston J. MacDougall , a professor of interpersonal chemistry at Middle Tennessee State University in Murfreesboro .
" You do n’t desire to use excessive amounts of chlorine , but we should n’t revere chemical substances because we do not sympathise them , " MacDougall state Live Science .
In fact , the lack of appropriate chlorination to toss off harmful bacterium , such asE. coli , can have devastating consequences on human wellness and life , he sum . For example , in May 2000 , in Walkerton , Ontario , seven people died and more than 2,300 got sick after the town ’s water supply became infect withE. coliand other bacteria , according tothe Water Quality and Health Council . If the required atomic number 17 levels had been wield , the disaster could have been prevented , even after the piss was contaminate , concord to a report card published by the Ontario Ministry of the Attorney General .
Additionally , adding chlorine to piddle is one method acting that many are trying to make uninfected water easily approachable in developing countries . A study published in 2017 state that3.4 million hoi polloi die each yr from water contaminated with harmful bacteria , such asE. coli , and that up to 4.4 billion people do not have a dependable source of blank crapulence water . Chlorinating the water supply in addition to convey piddle closer to the community is one important footstep in bringing clean water closer to those who need it .
In summation , there is some promising research - have-to doe with news program about chlorine . MacDougall pointed to a recent subject on Cl particle found in a new socio-economic class of antibiotic compounds that have been expose in bantam nautical organism in North Atlantic waters near Norway . Those chlorine speck are crucial to the antibiotic action of the compounds , which can be good againstmethicillin - resistantStaphylococcus aureus , a bacterium that causes hard - to - treat infections in citizenry and is resistant to commonly used antibiotic drug , he say .
" The drug discovery community is very activated about these of course occurring compound because they are in effect against MRSA , " said MacDougall , who was not involved in the research , issue in April 2014 in the journalAngewandte Chemie International Edition .
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