With today’s technology, creative Hollywood producers are increasingly able to bring to life the unimaginable and to forecast the future. This summer, a trip to the movie theater offered a variety of sci-fi blockbusters, such as Stephen Spielberg’s “The Lost World” and Columbia Pictures’ “The Fifth Element.” Using state-of-the-art sound and visual effects, one film resurrects the monsters of the past, while another provides a harrowing glimpse of the future.
If we are to continue imitating life with art, I have an idea for Hollywood’s next futuristic blockbuster. The name of the film? “The Lost Element.” The premise? The elimination of one of nature’s elements from the periodic table–and from the world. Too strange for fiction? Not if Greenpeace has its way.
Today, the activist organization Greenpeace has undertaken a campaign to rid the world of chlorine, the 17th element on the periodic table. Several times this year, the group has announced its campaign against polyvinyl chloride or vinyl–a chlorinated plastic–and reiterated its commitment to eliminating the use of chlorine and chlorine compounds. Major events have included an Earth Day press conference and a protest in front of the White House with a rock band called Porno for Pyros headlining the show.
Chlorine is the 11th most abundant element in the Earth’s crust–more abundant in nature than carbon, and arguably as essential as oxygen. While most people know that chlorine cleans water and disinfects, many people may not know that chlorine is used to make everything from surgical sutures and X-ray film to rocket fuel and football helmets. Or, that in the form of sodium chloride, it is the compound of which table salt is made.
While Greenpeace alleges that chlorine and chlorinated compounds are associated with adverse human health effects, public health and medical organizations around the globe have praised chlorine for its role in protecting public health and saving lives. According to a former president of the American Public Health Association, the late Abel Wolman, “chlorine should be noted as perhaps saving more lives throughout the world than any other chemical.” And, nine out of 10 public health officials agree that without chlorine the risk of water-borne disease outbreaks in the U.S. would increase significantly.
Today, without chlorine and chlorinated products, we would not only be susceptible to countless microbial health threats–including epidemics of the past such as cholera, malaria and typhoid–but we also would not have access to many of the quality medical products we might need to help treat such illnesses.
The reason: Chlorine chemistry is used to make more than 85 percent of all pharmaceuticals and more than a quarter of all medical equipment. The list of medical devices and cures made possible by chlorine chemistry is too long to itemize. In short, from blood bags and antibiotics to Band-Aids and bed pans, chlorine chemistry is both behind the scenes and on the frontlines of the health-care arena.
Chlorine also helps to make bullet-proof vests and glass, automobile air bags and seat belts and protective gear for athletes–as well as plumbing pipes, brake and transmission fluids and prescription eye wear.
My point is this: if chlorine has been credited with saving lives, protecting public health and just plain making everyday life easier, why in the world would anyone want to eliminate such an essential element?
In my mind’s eye, a world without chlorine would resemble a science-fiction scene of the worst kind–where surgeons operate without sutures and doctors treat intensive-care patients without IV tubes or oxygen tents. Where children attend day care without disinfectants and ride in cars without seat belts. Where control rooms are without computers and rockets are without fuel.
More importantly, instead of turning our attention–as well as precious time and resources–to the fictitious threat of table salt, groups like Greenpeace should spend their time tackling the real monsters in our world today–such as AIDS, cancer, hunger and violence. Then, we might witness significant progress in our quality of life–here on Earth.
