Chlorine dioxide
A gas, not a bleach solution — and the distinction matters, because its occupational exposure limit is an order of magnitude below that of most cleaning substances.
What not to do
Chlorine dioxide requires the precaution Household plastics
Unsafe
Do not do this. The risk is established, and it is described below.
Precautions
- Ventilate the area
- Never mix with other cleaning products
- Keep away from children and pets
- Consider professional help
Evidence
Strongly supported
Sources
Right to Know Hazardous Substance Fact Sheet: Chlorine Dioxide (RTK 0368)
New Jersey Department of Health · Government or regulator
Relied on for: That chlorine dioxide is a gas whose permissible and recommended airborne exposure limits are both 0.1 ppm. (states this directly)
Precautions
- Never mix with other cleaning products
- Ventilate the area
- Keep away from children and pets
- Check the manufacturer's instructions
- Consider professional help
In detail
Chlorine dioxide is described by the regulator as a yellow to red GAS with an irritating odour similar to chlorine, used to bleach wood pulp, textiles and oils, in processing flour, and for water purification. That it is a gas is the fact consumer material about it consistently loses. Products marketed for odour removal and mould treatment generate it in place from a precursor, and are frequently described in the vocabulary of ordinary chlorine bleach, which is a different substance behaving in a different way. The number that separates them is the exposure limit: the legal airborne permissible limit is 0.1 parts per million averaged over an eight-hour shift, with the recommended limit the same figure. That is an order of magnitude below the limits set for most cleaning substances, and a product that liberates a gas with a limit that low is not one whose behaviour can be assumed from its relatives. No authoritative source addresses any consumer chlorine-dioxide product, so nothing can be said for or against one. What can be said is that the two chemistries are different and must not be assumed to behave alike.
Properties
- Chemical name
- Chlorine dioxide
- pH
- Not applicable
Why
- Chlorine dioxide is explained by Oxidation and bleaching
- Chlorine dioxide is explained by Cleaning, disinfecting and sterilising
Sources for this page
Sources
Right to Know Hazardous Substance Fact Sheet: Chlorine Dioxide (RTK 0368)
New Jersey Department of Health · Government or regulator
Relied on for: That chlorine dioxide is a yellow to red gas with an irritating odour similar to chlorine, used to bleach wood pulp, textiles and oils and for water purification, and that the permissible and recommended airborne exposure limits are both 0.1 ppm. (states this directly)