question: How is sodium chloride broken down in the body, seeing as chlorine is toxic to humans?
comment: The component elements are quickly put into other compounds, rather than being kept separate. The chlorine is used to form hydrochloric acid for the stomach.
passages: Sodium chlorite is a strong oxidant and can therefore be expected to cause clinical symptoms similar to the well known sodium chlorate: methemoglobinemia, hemolysis, renal failure. A dose of 10-15 grams of sodium chlorate can be lethal. Methemoglobemia had been demonstrated in rats and cats, and recent studies by the EMEA have confirmed that the clinical symptomatology is very similar to the one caused by sodium chlorate in rats, mice, rabbits, and green monkeys.
   Chloramine is toxic to fish and amphibians. Chloramine, like chlorine, comes in direct contact with their bloodstream through fish gills and must be removed from water added to aquariums and fish ponds. It must also be removed from water prior to use in dialysis machines, since water comes into direct contact with the bloodstream during treatment. Since the 1980s, most dialysis machines are built with filters to remove chloramines.
   Section::::Use.:Army.
  
  The U.S. Army Natick Soldier Research, Development, and Engineering Center produced a portable "no power required" method of generating chlorine dioxide, known as ClO, gas, described as one of the best biocides available for combating contaminants, which range from benign microbes and food pathogens to Category A Bioterror agents. 
  
  In the weeks after the 9/11 attacks when anthrax was sent in letters to public officials, hazardous materials teams used ClO to decontaminate the Hart Senate Office Building, and the Brentwood Postal Facility.
  
  Section::::Safety.
   There is only one human case in the medical literature of chlorite poisoning. It seems to confirm that the toxicity is equal to sodium chlorate. From the analogy with sodium chlorate, even small amounts of about 1 gram can be expected to cause nausea, vomiting and even life-threatening hemolysis in glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase deficient persons.
  
  The EPA has set a maximum contaminant level of 1 milligram of chlorite per liter (1 mg/L) in drinking water.
   In this way, chlorine is recovered for recycling.
  
  Section::::The standard process.
  
  The standard chloride process for titanium dioxide base material consists of the following main production units:
  
  BULLET::::- Oxidation
  
  BULLET::::- Chlorination
  
  BULLET::::- Condensation
  
  BULLET::::- Purification
  
  The following auxiliary production units are necessary:
  
  BULLET::::- Ore/coke storage
  
  BULLET::::- Off-Gas Treatment
  
  BULLET::::- Dust treatment
   Acute overdosage is often characterized by nausea, vomiting, confusion, convulsions, slow and irregular breathing, cardiac arrhythmia, and coma. The plasma, serum or blood concentrations of chloral hydrate and/or trichloroethanol, its major active metabolite, may be measured to confirm a diagnosis of poisoning in hospitalized patients or to aid in the medicolegal investigation of fatalities. Accidental overdosage of young children undergoing simple dental or surgical procedures has occurred. Hemodialysis has been used successfully to accelerate clearance of the drug in poisoning victims. It is listed as having a "conditional risk" of causing torsades de pointes.
  
  Section::::Production.
   At 12% concentration, the victim's heart, lungs and kidneys begin to fail. Immediate CPR followed by medical support measures may be required to prevent fatal kidney, lung and heart failure.
  
  Studies on the effects of chronic ethyl chloride exposure in animals have given inconsistent results, and no data exists for its long-term effects on humans. Some studies have reported that prolonged exposure can produce liver or kidney damage, or uterine cancer in mice, but these data have been difficult to reproduce.
   US EPA drinking water quality standards limit chloramine concentration for public water systems to 4 parts per million (ppm) based on a running annual average of all samples in the distribution system. In order to meet EPA-regulated limits on halogenated disinfection by-products, many utilities are switching from chlorination to chloramination. While chloramination produces fewer regulated total halogenated disinfection by-products, it can produce greater concentrations of unregulated iodinated disinfection byproducts and "N"-nitrosodimethylamine. Both iodinated disinfection by-products and "N"-nitrosodimethylamine have been shown to be genotoxic.
  
  Section::::Synthesis and chemical reactions.
   Chloride anions are essential to a large number of species, humans included. The concentration of chlorine in the dry weight of cereals is 10 to 20 parts per million, while in potatoes the concentration of chloride is 0.5%. Plant growth is adversely affected by chloride levels in the soil falling below 2 parts per million. Human blood contains an average of 0.3% chlorine. Human bone typically contains 900 parts per million of chlorine. Human tissue contains approximately 0.2 to 0.5% chlorine. There is a total of 95 grams of chlorine in a typical 70-kilogram human.
   Material has relatively low acute toxicity but is toxic because of its persistent and cumulative nature in body tissues in rich lipid content.
  
  Section::::Safety.:Unique Exposure Incident.
   However, one major concern arising from sodium hypochlorite use is that it tends to form persistent chlorinated organic compounds, including known carcinogens, that can be absorbed by organisms and enter the food chain. These compounds may be formed during household storage and use as well during industrial use. For example, when household bleach and wastewater were mixed, 1–2% of the available chlorine was observed to form organic compounds. As of 1994, not all the byproducts had been identified, but identified compounds include chloroform and carbon tetrachloride. The estimated exposure to these chemicals from use is estimated to be within occupational exposure limits.
   Section::::See also.
  
  BULLET::::- HAZMAT Class 8 Corrosive Substances
  
  BULLET::::- Common chemicals
  
  BULLET::::- List of cleaning agents
  
  BULLET::::- Acid and Base
  
  Section::::External links.
  
  BULLET::::- International Chemical Safety Card 0360
  
  BULLET::::- Euro Chlor-How is chlorine made? Chlorine Online
  
  BULLET::::- NIOSH Pocket Guide to Chemical Hazards
  
  BULLET::::- CDC – Sodium Hydroxide – NIOSH Workplace Safety and Health Topic
  
  BULLET::::- European Union Risk Assessment Report
  
  BULLET::::- Production by brine electrolysis
  
  BULLET::::- Data sheets
  
  BULLET::::- Sodium Hydroxide Safety Data Sheet (SDS)
  
  BULLET::::- Sodium Hydroxide MSDS
  
  BULLET::::- Certified Lye MSDS
  
  BULLET::::- Hill Brothers MSDS
  
  BULLET::::- Sodium hydroxide Safety Summary (BASF)
   The main application of sodium chlorite is the generation of chlorine dioxide for bleaching and stripping of textiles, pulp, and paper. It is also used for disinfection of municipal water treatment plants after conversion to chlorine dioxide. An advantage in this application, as compared to the more commonly used chlorine, is that trihalomethanes (such as chloroform) are not produced from organic contaminants. Chlorine dioxide generated from sodium chlorite is approved by FDA under some conditions for disinfecting water used to wash fruits, vegetables, and poultry.
   Chlorotoxin has a considerable sequence homology to the class of small insectotoxins.
  
  Section::::Target.
  
  Chlorotoxin is the first reported high-affinity peptide ligand for Cl channels and it blocks small conductance chloride channels. Each chloride channel can be closed by only one ligand molecule.
  
  Using a recombinant chlorotoxin it was demonstrated that chlorotoxin specifically and selectively interacts with MMP-2 isoforms which are specifically upregulated in gliomas and related cancers, but are not normally expressed in brain.
  
  Section::::Toxicity.
   Chlorobenzene exhibits "low to moderate" toxicity as indicated by its of 2.9 g/kg. The Occupational Safety and Health Administration has set a permissible exposure limit at 75 ppm (350 mg/m) over an eight-hour time-weighted average for workers handling chlorobenzene.
  
  Section::::Toxicology and biodegradation.
   Chlorine is too reactive to occur as the free element in nature but is very abundant in the form of its chloride salts. It is the twenty-first most abundant element in Earth's crust and makes up 126 parts per million of it, through the large deposits of chloride minerals, especially sodium chloride, that have been evaporated from water bodies. All of these pale in comparison to the reserves of chloride ions in seawater: smaller amounts at higher concentrations occur in some inland seas and underground brine wells, such as the Great Salt Lake in Utah and the Dead Sea in Israel.
   Chlorine is an element used in industry. It is one of the most commonly manufactured chemicals in the United States. It is used to make pesticides, rubber, and solvents. It is also used in drinking water and swimming pools to kill bacteria. The extent of poisoning chlorine causes depends on the amount of chlorine to which a person is exposed.
  
  Section::::History.
   Chloroacetic acid easily penetrates skin and mucous membranes and interferes with cellular energy production. Initial dermal exposure to high concentrations (e.g., 80% solution) may not appear very damaging at first, however systemic poisoning may present within hours. Exposure can be fatal if greater than 6% body surface area is exposed to chloroacetic acid. The sodium salt does not penetrate the skin as well as the acid but can be as damaging given a longer duration and greater surface area of exposure.
   The minor pathway of elimination is biliary excretion. When the blood serum concentration is 24 µg/ml, the corresponding biliary concentration is 10 µg/ml. In the spinal fluid the concentration of cephaloridine is 6-12% of the concentration in the blood and serum.
  
  Cephaloridine is distributed well into the liver, stomach wall, lung and spleen and is also found in fresh wounds one hour after injection. The concentration in the wound will decrease as the wound age increases. However, the drug is poorly penetrated into the cerebrospinal fluid and is found in a much smaller amount in the cerebral cortex.
  
  Section::::Kinetics.:Distribution.:Pregnancy.
   When spilled into the environment, chlorinated solvents are frequently present as DNAPL and the DNAPL can provide a long term secondary source of the chlorinated solvent to dissolved groundwater plumes. Chlorinated solvents are typically immiscible in water, having low solubility in water by definition, yet still have a solubility above the concentrations allowed by drinking water protections. Therefore, DNAPL which is a chlorinated solvent can act as an ongoing pathway for constituents to dissolve into groundwater. Common use of chlorinated solvents in manufacturing operations began during World War II, with the rate of usage for most solvents increasing into the 1970s. By the early 1980s, chemical analyses becoming available that documented widespread contamination of groundwater with chlorinated solvents. Since that time, a considerable effort has been extended to improve our ability to locate and remediate DNAPL present as chlorinated solvents.
   People have no trouble digesting chlorine or chloramine at the levels found in public drinking water; this water is not introduced directly into the human bloodstream. In the United States, the United States Environmental Protection Agency set minimum and maximum health-based safe levels for chloramine in drinking water. Elsewhere, similar oversight agencies may set drinking water quality standards for chloramine.
   The calcium-activated chloride channel is present in cardiac myocytes of many species, such as rabbit and pig, but their presence in human cardiac myocytes is under debate. Some have provided evidence that these channels are present in human atrial cells, while others have failed to find similar results.
   Inhalation of chloromethane gas produces central nervous system effects similar to drug intoxication. Exposure may cause drowsiness, dizziness, or confusion and difficulty breathing, walking or speaking may occur. At higher concentrations, paralysis, seizures, and coma can result.
  
  In case of ingestion, nausea and vomiting may occur. Skin contact, when in the form of a refrigerated liquid, may result in frostbite. Contact with the eyes may result in dim vision, and widely dilated pupils that react slowly to changes in light.
   Long-term effects of acute or chronic chlormethine exposure are caused by damage to the immune system. White blood cell counts drop, increasing the risk of infection, and red blood cell and platelet counts may also drop due to bone marrow damage. Chronic eye infections may result from exposure, but blindness is temporary. Long-term effects on the respiratory system include anosmia (inability to smell), ageusia (inability to taste), inflammation, chronic infections, fibrosis, and cancer. Skin that has been damaged by HN2 can change pigmentation or become scarred, and may eventually develop cancer.
  
  Section::::History.
   The most important chlorite is sodium chlorite (NaClO); this is used in the bleaching of textiles, pulp, and paper, however despite its strongly oxidizing nature it is often not used directly being instead used to generate the neutral species chlorine dioxide (ClO), normally via a reaction with HCl:
  
  Section::::Other oxyanions.
  
raw_presuppositions: Chlorine that is broken down in the body stays in that form.
raw_corrections: Chlorine that is broken down in the body quickly becomes hydrochoric acid.