PVC Awareness

Chlorine is quite abundant in nature, there is more chlorine (0.19%) in the earth's 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) travel with the winds from sea to land. So on land you will find chlorine everywhere in air and ground.

All life on earth started in salted oceans, 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: hypo chlorite to kill the invaders.

Chlorine in Industry

About 60% of all chemical activities use chlorine in either a direct or indirect way. This is not by accident, 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 non-renewable 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, credit cards, leather imitation, pipes for water and gas, window frames, packaging for food and pharmaceuticals, impermeable linings for deposits, basements and tunnels) and PVDC, used for special packaging.
Catalysts: 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!