Is chlorine dioxide environmentally friendly and does it create harmful by-products?
Chlorine dioxide is far more environmentally friendly than other oxidising biocides and disinfectants including chlorine and bromine. Substituting chlorine dioxide for chlorine eliminates the formation of toxic halogenated disinfection by-products including trihalomethanes (THMs) and other chlorinated compounds that are harmful to the environment. In fact chlorine dioxide actually helps to remove substances that can form trihalomethanes. The disinfection is by oxidation as chlorine dioxide does not have either addition or substitution reactions associated with its chemistry.
