Chlorine Bleach

Not happy with the title of "World's Most Popular Germ-Killer", bleach is also used in great quantities by industries worldwide. An enormous commercial market for industrial bleach exists, where it used for wastewater treatment, drinking water disinfection and textile and paper manufacturing. It is used to treat sewage and industrial wastes to reduce odors and increase digesting efficiency. Hypochlorite bleach neutralizes sulfer hydrogen gas (SH) and ammonia (NH3). It detoxifies cyanide baths in metal finishing industries and treats cyanide effluents created by gold mining. Bleach is also used to recover precious metals from manufacturing solutions. Air scrubbing systems use bleach to destroy pathogens and neutralize gases. Without bleach, much of the food processing done in North America would not be possible. It is used to clean dairy equipment and food processing equipment, in fruit, vegetable, mushroom, hog, beef, poultry, fish and maple syrup processing. One of the first uses for commercial uses bleach was its use as a cotton whitener. It remains one of the most important chemicals used in textile manufacturing. Bleach is also used to whiten paper, soap, straw, wood and many other organic products.