What to Know About Chlorine Poisoning and How to Treat It (2024)

Chlorine is a chemical used in cleaning products, such as bleach, and for disinfecting swimming pools. Along with other cleaning ingredients, chlorine's primary role in cleaning products is disinfecting by killing germs.

But exposure to concentrated chlorine through swallowing, touching, or inhaling it can be harmful—potentially causing chemical burns or blisters on the skin, damage to the eyes, or difficulty breathing. If you or someone else experiences signs of chlorine poisoning, it’s crucial to get prompt emergency medical attention.

How Chlorine Poisoning Happens

Chlorine is often mixed with water and other chemicals to kill germs in swimming pools. Chlorine in household or industrial cleaners is used to destroy germs, and it also aids in sanitizing organic debris or light residues.

Moderate Chlorine Exposure

When you swim in a pool, the chlorine in the water is diluted, so it should not damage your skin or eyes. You might experience a slight rash that should resolve with lotion. You might also inhale very diluted chlorine in the air around a pool. Even swallowing a few drops of pool water should not be dangerous.

You may touch or inhale chlorine when you clean with chlorine-containing products or enter a room cleaned with these products.

Excessive Chlorine Exposure

If you are exposed to high amounts of highly concentrated chlorine, its destructive and corrosive chemical actions (on its own or mixed with other chemical ingredients) can be dangerous.You could get chlorine poisoning from swallowing cleansers, getting it on your skin or in your eyes, or inhaling it in a closed environment.

Chronic Chlorine Exposure

Chronic low-dose chlorine exposure may occur with people who work with cleaning products, around pools, in water or sewage treatment facilities, or in some industries. Health effects include tooth corrosion and reactive airways dysfunction syndrome (RADS). RADS is a type of asthma induced by a chemical irritant.

Symptoms to Monitor

If you have any reason to think that you or your child has been exposed to harmful amounts of chlorine, be on the lookout for symptoms. The symptoms can either start immediately or be delayed for a few hours and worsen rapidly.

Skin

Getting chlorine on your skin, such as contacting undiluted bleach, can cause irritation and a sensation of burning. You should look out for redness, itching, pain, or blisters.

Eyes

Getting concentrated chlorine in your eyes can cause redness and irritation and could cause a sensation of burning of the surface of your eyes and eyelids.

Respiratory

Inhaling chlorine from a pool, being near a chlorine spill or puddle, or being in an industrial setting can cause coughing or sneezing. Severe cases can result in difficulty breathing,wheezing, and signs of hypoxia (low oxygen in the tissues). Hypoxia signs include a bluish skin discoloration (especially on lips and nail beds), which may appear gray or white in individuals with darker skin tones.

Swallowing

If you swallow chlorine, it can burn your throat, esophagus (food pipe), and the rest of your digestive system. The resulting tissue damage may disrupt blood mineral levels, affecting kidney and heart function. Severe cases of chlorine ingestion require immediate medical attention and can be life-threatening.

Immediate Steps to Take

If you or someone else has been exposed to a high concentration of chlorine or have symptoms of chlorine poisoning, take measures while waiting for emergency responders to arrive.

The first thing to do is get away from the exposure. If you’re outside in an environment with high chlorine concentration, leave the area or go inside. If you are inside in an area with high chlorine concentration, leave the building and go outside or to a different location.

Your next steps depend on your type of chlorine exposure:

• Swallowing chlorine-based pool cleaner or household cleaner: If you swallowed chlorine-based cleansers, do not make yourself vomit. Contact Poison Control for advice, by visiting www.poison.orgor by calling 800-222-1222. Concentrated sources (such as laundry pods or industrial-strength bleaches) can burn your throat, esophagus, and digestive system on the way down, and vomiting will cause additional burning on the way up.
• Chlorine splashed in your eyes: Wash your eyes with water for 10 to 15 minutes.
• Chlorine on your skin: Wash the area that was exposed to chlorine, or shower with mild soap and water.
• Inhaling chlorine in or around a pool, from a household cleaner spill, or in an industrial environment: Leave the area that has a high concentration of chlorine in the air.

Be sure to remove clothes that have been splashed with chlorine until the chlorine is washed off.

Treatment for Poisoning

The medical treatment for chlorine poisoning involves supportive interventions for the adverse consequences.

You might need oxygen supplementation through a nasal cannula. This is a small plastic tube that’s placed in your nose while you are awake and breathing. If you have severe lung damage, you may need mechanical respiratory support. Your lung function would be monitored as your lungs heal.

If you’ve had a skin burn due to chlorine, you will need medication to prevent a skin infection. Your healthcare providers will also protect your skin with medication and bandages placed on your skin until it heals. If you had a severe burn, you may also need a skin graft, which is a surgical procedure to replace severely damaged skin.

If you’ve had burns to the surface of your eyes from chlorine damage, you may need to wear eye protection while your eyes heal.

During your healing process after swallowing chlorine, you might also receive intravenous fluids with electrolytes (minerals).

Assessing Overall Risk

Anyone can experience chlorine poisoning from excessive exposure. Children are at a higher risk due to their smaller bodies and airways. Pay attention to any symptoms that your child is having during and after swimming.

It’s a good idea to shower after swimming in a pool. Some people like to wear swimming goggles to prevent a burning sensation in the eyes.

Wearing a face mask while cleaning with chlorine products may help prevent you from inhaling the chemicals. If cleaning is uncomfortable for your eyes, you might also consider wearing glasses or goggles.

Chlorine-Based Household Cleaner Alternatives

A variety of cleansers and disinfectants are on the market. You might consider using organic products or making your own products. Often, vinegar, mild soaps, baking soda, or even hot water can be sufficient for cleaning, although these won't disinfect.

However, mixing chlorine bleach with ammonia or other chemical can produce dangerous fumes. Make sure you understand the chemical interactions before mixing different types of products.

Summary

Chlorine is a common ingredient in cleaners and disinfectants. Chlorine compounds are effective at destroying germs, preventing infections, and stopping the growth of many harmful microorganisms.

If you or your child is exposed to highly concentrated amounts of chlorine in a pool, your home, or an industrial setting, it can cause serious damage. Inhaling chlorine can injure your nose, throat, and lungs. Swallowing chlorine can harm your throat, esophagus, and digestive system. Getting chlorine on your skin or eyes can lead to burns.

If you or your child has any of these exposures, call poison control for help immediately and avoid further exposure while waiting for help. Treatment for chlorine poisoning can help your body heal.