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Some individuals are bitterly opposed to the addition of chlorine to tap water, even if they agree with its use in swimming pool water, but there those who disagree with using it in pools as well.

However, the government must have its reasons for adding chlorine to our general water supply, so in this article, we will look at the pros and cons of chlorine.

Chlorine is an element and its name in Ancient Greek means 'light green'. It has been known for millenia and in its most ubiquitous form it is found as sodium chloride, which is better known as common salt. We consume it in and on our food every day. It is a food taste enhancer, but in excess, it is blamed for obesity through water retention and high blood pressure.

Chlorine can be smelled and in its gaseous state, chlorine was used to gas soldiers in the trenches of the First World War. However, chlorine comes in numerous compounds and even compounds of compounds and so is easy to get confused.

It is an oxidizer and so can be used as a bleach and thus as a disinfectant. Hence its use in swimming pools and toilets. However, it has also been blamed for getting into the upper atmosphere and depleting the ozone layer.

The fact is that, in its most native, pure, elemental state, chlorine is extremely poisonous, but on the other hand, it is crucial to most forms of life including human life. In short, it is a dangerous but vital chemical.

Hydrochloric acid is one of the most hazardous acids on the planet but has numerous industrial uses, such as the production of some plastics and food additives, good and bad.

Without hydrochloric acid in your stomach, you would have a hard time digesting your food because it is a small but crucial percentage of your stomach acid.

Chlorine binds with most items to make compounds and so it is no surprise that it forms compounds with minerals leached from the earth by rivers and finds its way down to the sea.

Chlorine is responsible, in compounds, for the salty taste of the sea and thereby the hygiene of the sea despite all the natural waste that is put it in by fish and mammals. It maintains their environment in a state that can support life. Mankind has lived off the fruits of the sea for tens of thousands of years.

Chlorine is used in our drinking water in the form of hypochlorous acid. As a killer of bacteria, chlorine is six times more powerful than iodine. Having said that, it reacts badly with proteins like human skin and hair, because it is a strong oxidizer.

Being such a vigorous oxidizer also means that it can be used to create explosive mixtures which is why people are normally told on the containers not to combine cleaning compounds at home.