The history of chlorine - From discovery to commodity

Chlorine was the first of the halogens to be discovered and identified. The discovery of the last one, bromine, represented one of the first experimental evidences that elements could be grouped in families of similar properties. From a controversial scientific subject and a laboratory curiosity chlorine grew to become the eighth largest chemical commodity in the world. The regulations that followed the negative ecological impact of the Leblanc soda process were the jumping board for the beginning of large-scale production of chlorine for bleaching purposes. Transformation of the new element and its derivatives into a substantial commercial reality came with the mass production of automobiles and chlorofluorohydrocarbons. The pattern end use of chlorine has reflected the changes in social appreciation of environmental protection and safety.