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Chlorine dioxide (ClO2) is a chemical compound consisting of one chlorine atom and two oxygen atoms. It is a reddish to yellowish-green gas at room temperature that dissolves in water. It is used for a variety of antimicrobial uses, including the disinfection of drinking water. Chlorine dioxide gas is usually produced onsite from sodium chlorate or sodium chlorite.

Uses & Benefits

Powerful Disinfection in Water Treatment

Chlorine dioxide is a disinfectant. When added to drinking water, it helps destroy bacteria, viruses and some types of parasites that can make people sick, such as Cryptosporidium parvum and Giardia lamblia. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) regulates the maximum concentration of Chlorine Dioxide Tablets in drinking water to be no greater than 0.8 parts per million (ppm).

Industrial/Manufacturing Uses

Chlorine dioxide chemistry is used in a wide variety of industrial, oil and gas, food and municipal applications:

• Paper ProcessingChlorine dioxide is used to chemically process wood pulp for paper manufacturing.

• Medical ApplicationsIn hospitals and other healthcare environments, chlorine dioxide gas helps to sterilize medical and laboratory equipment, surfaces, rooms and tools. Researchers have found that at appropriate concentrations, chlorine dioxide is both safe and effective at helping to eliminate Legionella bacteria in hospital environments. Legionella pneumophila bacteria can cause Legionnaires’ disease, a potentially deadly type of pneumonia.

Chlorine dioxide is not a cure or treatment for medical ailments, including but not limited to autism, HIV, malaria, hepatitis viruses, influenza, common colds, and cancer. Claims that the ingestion of chlorine dioxide, often advertised as “Miracle Mineral Solution” or MMS, will cure these or other ailments are false.

Safety Information

According to U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, chlorine dioxide is added to drinking water to protect people from harmful bacteria and other microorganisms. EPA recognizes chlorine dioxide use as a drinking water disinfectant, and it is included in the World Health Organization’s (WHO) Guidelines for Drinking-water Quality.

In its pure form, chlorine dioxide is a hazardous gas but most people are “not likely” to breathe air containing dangerous levels of chlorine dioxide as it rapidly breaks down in air to chlorine gas and oxygen. For workers who use chlorine dioxide, the U.S. Occupational Safety and Hazard Administration (OSHA) regulates the level of chlorine dioxide in workplace air for safety. OSHA has set a Permissible Exposure Limit (PEL) for chlorine dioxide at 0.1 parts per million (ppm), or 0.3 milligrams (mg) per cubic meters (m3) for workers using chlorine dioxide for general industrial purposes. OSHA also has a PEL for chlorine dioxide for the construction industry.

Approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), it is as powerful as peracetic acid and more economical, yet it has far less of an impact on the environment than quaternary ammonium salts, chlorine or bromine, making it an excellent choice for food processing plants. It costs about the same to use as other sanitizers but is more versatile and less harmful. It’s also been shown to destroy and prevent biofilms, one of the biggest challenges to food processors in destroying harmful bacteria. It also does not have the strong odor or corrosive qualities associated with chlorine. It is a versatile alternative that can be used in many sanitation applications, including pasteurization equipment, heat exchangers, cooling towers, hard surface disinfecting, potable water treatment and deodorizing stacks in rendering plants. It is already growing in popularity as a tool to control microbiological growth in the dairy industry, the beverage industry, the fruit and vegetable processing industries, canning plants, and in poultry and beef facilities.

It is widely used as a stable source of chlorine for the disinfection of swimming pools
and in the food industry. It is also used as a means of disinfecting drinking-water, primarily in
emergencies, when it provides an easy-to-use source of free chlorine, and, more recently, as
the form of chlorine for household point-of-use water treatment.

In order for any surface to be properly disinfected, the U.S. CDC recommends following the instructions on each product carefully and leaving the disinfectant on the surface for 3-5 minutes. This means the surface needs to be wet for this period of time, and you may need to use more than one disinfectant wipe depending on the size of the surface. However, you should never reuse the same disinfectant wipe.