Chlorine is one of the world's most widely used chemicals, the building
element vital to almost every United States industry. We use chlorine and
chlorine-based products whenever we drink a glass of water, buy food wrapped in
plastic, purchase produce in the supermarket, pour bleach into a washing machine,
have a prescription filled, print out a computer document like this one, or even
drive a car. (Abelson 94)
Chlorine, a member of the halogen (salt-forming) group of metallic
elements, was first made by Swedish chemist Carl Wilhelm Scheele in 1774, who
treated hydrochloric acid with m…
