How Does Chlorine Affect The Environment

Many people, especially in warm or dry areas, own or have access to a swimming pool. While this attraction can be relaxing and fun on a hot summer day, it has tremendous consequences on the environment. The use of chlorine greatly affects the plants and wildlife surrounding the area. It can cause plants to wither away, turn yellow, and even die. The chlorine can cause the tissue of leaves to brown or rot. The toxicity can even cause microorganisms in the surrounding soil to die. Chlorine is also used in many household items, causing further damage to humans and the environment. This chlorine toxicity can come from multiple different sources. For example, toxicity can come from the runoff of pools treated with high amounts of chlorine. It can
Small amounts of exposure can lead to plant growth, while severe cases can completely kill off the organism. The chlorine creates an acid that deteriorates and kills a large portion of the tissue in the plant that was exposed. It's not just plants that are harmed, even humans can be affected by chlorine. For example, the ingestion of chlorine can cause major damage to the tissue along the path of ingestion. While ingestion is quite rare, due to chlorine being a gas at room temperature, when it is dissolved in water the effects can be deadly to the human body. When pool water evaporates, it leaves small amounts of chlorine gas in the air. When exposed to this gas, even at low levels, it can cause the human body discomfort. For example, some results may be irritation of eyes, skin, and even the irritation of the
When water comes in contact with the chlorine it becomes acidic, leading it to damage some living organisms.These products that have chlorine can include bleach, cleaners, and pool chlorine. People still use it because of its ability to kill bacteria. This could be anything from bacteria commonly found in pools, to just disinfecting counters in a house. Although it is useful in everyday life, it can have tremendous harmful abilities. When chlorine comes into contact with plant or animal tissue, it creates a powerful acid. This acid moves on to deteriorating the tissue, harming the plant or animal that came into contact with the chlorine. There are other effects of chlorine that need to be addressed. While the element is harmful to the environment there is little to no chance of it going through the soil into the groundwater due to its reactivity. It can, however, get into water and soil and react with other chemicals. It combines with inorganic material in water to form chloride salts, and with organic material in water to form chlorinated organic chemicals. Because of this, organisms living in water and soil are likely to be harmed by