• C4 participants believe that chlorine chemistry, with its many uses and numerous products, offers significant benefits to society. From the time chlorine was first used to disinfect drinking water to the present, chlorine chemistry has coincided with improved health and life expectancy.
  • The chlorination of water has played a critical role in eliminating waterborne diseases, protecting the world's drinking water supply and enhancing public health for more than 90 years.
     
  • 85% of pharmaceuticals are made using chlorine chemistry.
     
  • 96% of crop protection products depend on chlorine chemistry.
     
  • Vinyl products, which account for 40% of the use of chlorine, provide significant benefit and choice for the consumer, from blood bags and intravenous tubing to water pipes and siding.
     
• C4 participants support taking action on any uses of chlorine shown by science to present unacceptable risks to health or the environment.
   
• C4 participants support the virtual elimination of emissions of anthropogenic chlorinated compounds identified as persistent, bioaccumulative and toxic.
   
• C4 participants believe Environment Canada's Chlorinated Substances Action Plan,* the Toxic Substances Management Policy, and the Canadian Environmental Protection Act are in place to control and appropriately manage substances identified as a concern.

In addition, other cooperative national and international programs, such as the Accelerated Reduction/ Elimination of Toxics program, the Canada-Wide Standards, the Canada-Ontario Agreement, and the Canada-U.S. Binational Toxics Strategy are in place to manage and reduce the emission into the environment of compounds identified as persistent, toxic and bioaccumulative.
 

*"Not all chlorinated substances or chlorine uses pose a threat to human health or the environment. Chlorine also has beneficial uses. It is commonly used for drinking water disinfection and in the manufacture of pharmaceutical products. Principal industrial uses are in the polyvinyl chloride (PVC), pulp and paper, and solvent sectors."… "Current scientific opinion, including findings of the international Society of Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry, holds that a complete ban on all chlorine uses cannot be support by the present scientific evidence - although a number of dangerous substances should be eliminated."

… Chlorinated Substances Action Plan, Environment Canada's website - www.ec.gc.ca/csap