E926 - Chlorine Dioxide

Author: Karen Lennox Time for reading: ~1 minutes Last Updated: January 27, 2026

CHAPTERS (Table Of Contents)

Characteristic: Chlorine dioxide is a yellow-red gas with a specific odor, sufficiently unstable and explosive, especially exposed to light, also when heated and in contact with oxidants. When

Characteristic

Chlorine dioxide is a yellow-red gas with a specific odor, sufficiently unstable and explosive, especially exposed to light, also when heated and in contact with oxidants. At temperatures below 10 ° C it turns into a liquid state with brownish-red colors. It is best soluble in water with a temperature of 0 ° C, has a high degree of solubility in sulfuric and acetic acids, acetonitrile, carbon tetrachloride and other organic solvents.

E 926 is produced in the laboratory. There is no free sale of chlorine dioxide, mainly it is made directly in production when needed. It is a strong cellular poison. The substance is not stored in a liquid state due to explosiveness.

Use

The properties of the food additive E 926 are very similar to those of chlorine. In the food industry, the use of flour bleach is allowed, but most countries abandon this practice because of the high risk of blasting or poisoning workers in production, as chlorine dioxide vapors are highly toxic. In addition, the additive is used to purify and decontaminate drinking water (this method is allowed in many countries).

Chlorine dioxide is also used in other areas: for bleaching paper, cellulose, fabrics and various surfaces. The additive is also used for decontamination and disinfection.

Impact on humans

Inhalation of chlorine dioxide vapors causes severe cough, irritation of the mucous membranes and lungs, causes asthma attacks. In experiments on rats, it was found that at a concentration of the additive E 926 of 140 mg / kg, administered orally to the animal, sudden death of the experimental rodent occurs.

E926 - Chlorine Dioxide

CHAPTERS (Table Of Contents)

Characteristic

Use

Impact on humans

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