Chlorine Producers Fight Back Against Call for Chemical's Phaseout

Abstract

Chlorine producers and their trade association, the Chlorine Institute (CI), have launched a counterattack against environmental activists and others calling for a complete phaseout of the ubiquitous chemical. One of CI's new weapons is a study detailing the benefits that chlorine bestows on the economies of the U.S. and Canada and the costs of switching to a chlorine-free environment. Another is a soon-to-be-released review of the impact that chlorine has on health and the environment. Last year, the International Joint Commission on Great Lakes Water Quality, the Canada-U.S. binational environmental watchdog focusing on the Great Lakes, called for a gradual phaseout of chlorine and chlorine-containing compounds as industrial feedstocks. Greenpeace also has called for a ban on chlorine (C&EN, April 19, page 11). But a CI spokesman says a complete ban would be tantamount to throwing out all the good apples with the bad. And it would be costly. Charles River Associates (CRA), the independent ...