Skip to main content
ARS Home » Northeast Area » Wyndmoor, Pennsylvania » Eastern Regional Research Center » Food Safety and Intervention Technologies Research » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #219006
Title: Chlorine Dioxide (Gas)

Author
item Keskinen, Lindsey
item Annous, Bassam

Submitted to: Book Chapter
Publication Type: Book / Chapter
Publication Acceptance Date: 5/14/2009
Publication Date: 1/1/2011
Citation: Zhang, Barbosa-Canovas, Balusbramaniam, Dunne, Farkas and Yuan.2011. Nonthermal Processing Technologies for Food. Wiley-Blackwell. p. 359-365

Interpretive Summary:

Technical Abstract: Chlorine dioxide (ClO2) gas is registered by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) as a sterilant for use in manufacturing, laboratory equipment, medical devices, environmental surfaces, tools and clean rooms. Aqueous ClO2 is registered by the EPA as a surface disinfectant and sanitizer for use in livestock barns, bottling and food processing plants, and other manufacturing and storage facilities. The gaseous form is considered highly unstable and explosive at concentrations exceeding 10% in air, therefore it is not allowed to be stored or shipped in the U.S. and must be generated on site. While ClO2 gas dissolves readily in water, it does not hydrolyze and maintains integrity in a wide range of pH. Unlike chlorine, ClO2 does not participate in chlorination reactions leading to the formation of chlorinated compounds which are considered to be potentially carcinogenic. Also, unlike ozone, ClO2 does not oxidize bromide ion to bromate ion, which are also considered carcinogenic. Gaseous ClO2 is more efficacious in decontaminating food and food preparation surfaces than the aqueous form due to good penetration distribution of hard to reach inaccessible sites of the treated surfaces.