History Of chlorine
In 1774, a Swedish Chemist by the name Carl Wilhelm Scheele, (Figure 1) discovered He obtained this discovery through the reaction of the mineral pyrolusite, (which is manganese dioxide, MnO2 with hydrochloric acid. Scheele originally thought that the resulting gas of the reaction contained oxygen, thus not realizing he had discovered a new element. It wasn't until 1810 when a Cornish chemist named Humphry Davy, (Figure 2) proposed and confirmed chlorine to be an element. Davy also named then element. |
Chlorine as a DISINFECTANT
As stated above, chlorine was first discovered in 1774, and confirmed as an element in 1810. It wasn't until 1846 when chlorine started to be used as a disinfectant. In 1846, Dr. Ignaz Semmelweis, a German physician, introduced a rule that required for physicians at a Vienna hospital to wash their hands with soap and chlorine water to reduce infections in patients. In 1854, an English physician named Dr. John Snow successfully used chlorine to disinfect the Broad Street Pump water supply in London, which had been identified as the source of a cholera outbreak in the city. In 1893, Chlorine was introduced into the drinking water system for disinfection in Hamburg, Germany. The used of chlorine in drinking water wasn't adapted in the United States until 1908, and wasn't introduced in Canada until 1917. Today chlorine is still used in the treatment of water to disinfect it and make it safe for consumption, and is used in different cleaning products such as bleach (Figure 3).
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Chlorine in world war one
With the outbreak of World War One in 1914, a German chemist by the name Fritz Harber offered his services to the German army. When he got the go ahead from the German army, Harber began experimenting with chlorine gas to be used in trench warfare.
In April 1915, the chlorine gas was first used by the German army against the French army at Ypres. The Germans took canisters full of chlorine gas, (Figure 4), and launched it at the enemy trenches. Reports from French soldiers at Ypres was that a yellow-greenish gas was creeping towards the French trenches. Since gas warfare had been banned before World War One, the French soldiers thought that the Germans were advancing behind a smoke screen, so the French soldiers lined up ready to fire against the oncoming Germans. When the gas reached the trenches, the French soldiers started to feel pains in their chests and burning sensations in their throats. The soldiers realized they were being gassed and fled, but it was too late. The chlorine gas destroyed the respiratory organs of its victims, which led to a slow death by asphyxiation. After this attack, gas was then used throughout the rest of the war by both sides, claiming from what is estimated 88, 498 soldiers’ lives.
Chlorine was used in the early parts of World War Two but was later combined with different elements to make more effective gasses, diphosgene and carbonyl chloride.
In April 1915, the chlorine gas was first used by the German army against the French army at Ypres. The Germans took canisters full of chlorine gas, (Figure 4), and launched it at the enemy trenches. Reports from French soldiers at Ypres was that a yellow-greenish gas was creeping towards the French trenches. Since gas warfare had been banned before World War One, the French soldiers thought that the Germans were advancing behind a smoke screen, so the French soldiers lined up ready to fire against the oncoming Germans. When the gas reached the trenches, the French soldiers started to feel pains in their chests and burning sensations in their throats. The soldiers realized they were being gassed and fled, but it was too late. The chlorine gas destroyed the respiratory organs of its victims, which led to a slow death by asphyxiation. After this attack, gas was then used throughout the rest of the war by both sides, claiming from what is estimated 88, 498 soldiers’ lives.
Chlorine was used in the early parts of World War Two but was later combined with different elements to make more effective gasses, diphosgene and carbonyl chloride.