Chlorine Safety and Prevention: How to Protect Yourself from Chlorine Leaks

While chlorine gas is widely used in swimming pools, water treatment facilities, cleaning products, pharmaceutical products, and in many other industries, the gas is highly toxic when handled improperly. Training your workers on how to safely use chlorine is one part of health and safety best practices; monitoring your workplace for chlorine leaks is another. Learn about the hidden dangers in this common substance and how you can stay safe. 

The "Hidden Dangers" of Chlorine 

So many everyday things that you see and touch have come into contact with chlorine. The substance is a common cleaner and disinfectant because it is easy to use and inexpensive. Chlorine is also used in agricultural pesticides, in the manufacturing of drugs, in wastewater treatment facilities and the sanitizing of everyday drinking water, in paper manufacturing, in hospitality swimming pools and spas, and in many other products. No matter where it is being used, chlorine must be properly handled by all staff at all times. 

At room temperature, high chlorine levels are toxic. If chlorine gas comes into contact with substances including ammonia, ether, hydrogen, and turpentine, it can combust. Since this gas can cause breathing problems, it is dangerous to individuals with respiratory problems including asthma. 
The gas is yellowish at room temperature and has a distinct odor, so staff will be able to see and smell the substance. While this does aid in awareness of chlorine leaks, it is not sufficient to trust that your staff will see or smell leaked chlorine and leave. 

Employees exposed to chlorine can experience eye damage, coughing, choking, frostbite on the skin, and respiratory problems. In a worst case scenario, staff can die from suffocation due to sustained chlorine exposure. 

Fortunately, fixed gas monitors are an efficient way to protect staff from a chlorine leak. 

How PureAire Universal Gas Detectors Protect You From Chlorine Leaks

At PureAire, we offer universal gas monitors that protect against chlorine and other gases. PureAire's universal gas detectors are compact and designed for wall mounting in areas where you store or work with gases. Once installed, these detectors continually performs gas detection and monitoring. The maximum acceptable level of chlorine that workers can be exposed to, per OSHA regulations, is 1.0 parts per million (ppm). Chlorine is considered to be "Immediately Dangerous to Life and Health" when levels reach 10 ppm. As long as levels of chlorine remain below the acceptable safe level of 1.0 ppm, the detector is silent. Yet if gas leaks out and levels rise above the maximum acceptable level, the PureAire gas detector will sound an alert and flash a light so that staff will see or hear the alarm. 

Staff can then have enough time to stop what they are doing, exit the premises, and wait for emergency responders to contain the chlorine leak. When staff are alerted as soon as levels exceed those deemed safe, they can get out of the building before succumbing to chlorine-related health hazards. 

The universal gas monitor from PureAire protects against toxic gases including chlorine, hydrogen chlorine, ammonia, hydrogen fluoride, and other gases. Once installed, the PureAire detector will last for more than seven years without requiring any maintenance. If you seek a safe solution that delivers peace of mind and effective protection from chlorine leaks, PureAire's fixed gas monitor is a cost-effective, reliable option. 

Capable of chlorine gas detection in temperatures as low as -25 Fahrenheit up to to 22 Fahrenheit (-32 C to 50 C), these gas detectors offer flexible gas monitoring for visible and invisible toxins. PureAire's universal gas monitor is also water resistant and capable of detecting gases within a 30-foot range. 

Since PureAire's detectors have such a long lifespan, they are a convenient way to address gas leaks in the workplace. An optional long life renewable sensor extends the lifespan of these gas monitors by recharging the battery. 

After you install the gas monitor, your staff can work with chlorine and other gases with the certainty of knowing that their safety is protected. To protect your workers and your business assets, look to PureAire. View their fixed gas monitor or learn more at http://www.pureairemonitoring.com. 

PureAire Universal Gas Detector Offers Protection Against Toxic Levels of Ammonia

In March of 2016, an ammonia gas leak at a seafood processing plant in Boston left one worker dead. The fumes at the plant were so powerful that firefighters could not promptly enter the scene to mitigate the gas leak and try to save the staff member until much later. Reports show that 5,300 pounds of ammonia gas leaked out of the plant. If you work with ammonia at your facility, learn why this gas is so dangerous and one simple thing that you can do to prevent a tragedy like this from affecting your workers. 
The Hidden Dangers of Ammonia 
Ammonia is commonly used in refrigeration of dairy, meat, food processing, and cold storage. In fact, almost everything you can buy at your local grocery store has passed through an ammonia refrigeration site before making its way to your local store. 
A mixture of nitrogen and hydrogen, ammonia has been used in refrigeration since the 1800's. It is energy-efficient, inexpensive, more environmentally friendly than chlorofluorocarbon (Freon) refrigerant, and widely available via commercial manufacturing. While it may have started off as a refrigerant of food, ammonia is also used today for ice and water chilling in office buildings. In Europe, ammonia has additional applications in air conditioners in public buildings including hospitals and airports. The substance is also used in industries as diverse as semiconductor manufacturing, environmental emission monitoring, agricultural fertilizer, and chemical manufacturing.
As useful as ammonia is, it is also a dangerous substance when not properly stored. It can combust at high heat. While colorless, ammonia gas has a noxious odor. 
When workers are exposed to ammonia gas, they can experience skin and eye irritation. If concentrations of ammonia are high, burning and injury can result. In some cases permanent eye damage or blindness can occur. 
Workers will immediately know they are exposed to a harmful substance from symptoms including respiratory and nasal burning. Even though staff have a warning due to ammonia's odor, the substance causes adaptation. Workers may perceive a slight ammonia odor at low levels of exposure, and adjust to the scent so they can't tell when concentration has surpassed acceptable levels. 
In a worst case scenario, those exposed to ammonia will experience respiratory failure and die. The good news is, there are ways to protect staff from ammonia exposure using universal gas detection tools. 
How PureAire Universal Gas Detectors Protect Staff from Ammonia Exposure
PureAire's universal gas monitors protect against not only ammonia, but bromine, chlorine, hydrogen chloride, hydrogen fluoride, hydrides and other gases. Once installed, the monitor continually checks levels of gases and provides a visual and aural alert if levels of any substance exceed safe levels. 
This is a simple solution for round the clock gas monitoring for ammonia and many other hazardous gases. While ammonia has an odor, many other dangerous gases do not. Gas monitoring protects workers against substances they can smell as well as "silent killers" they cannot see or smell. With a universal gas monitor installed, workers can perform their duties secure in the knowledge that they will be alerted if ammonia or another substance leaks into the environment. 
After installation, the universal gas detector will work for over seven years with no maintenance. PureAire's gas monitor are built to outlast the competition to provide improved peace of mind for management and staff. 
If an ammonia leak were to happen, the gas monitor would sound an alarm so that workers can safely evacuate before succumbing to respiratory damage or failure. With staff outside the premises, everyone is thereby safe until first responders can deal with the leak. For example, in the Boston incident, the worker would have been able to escape the seafood plant with his life, resulting in an ammonia leak with no fatalities. 
Not only is gas detection the right thing to do for peace of mind, it can safeguard your business assets and personnel from dangers. To learn more about PureAire's line of universal gas detectors, please visit http://www.pureairemonitoring.com. 

Source

http://www.bostonherald.com/news/local_coverage/2016/03/worker_dies_in_ammonia_leak_at_plant_in_seaport

https://www.health.ny.gov/environmental/emergency/chemical_terrorism/ammonia_tech.htm