Editing Chlorine (section)

==== Disinfection ====
Labarraque's chlorinated lime and soda solutions have been advocated since 1828 to prevent infection (called "contagious infection", presumed to be transmitted by "[[miasma theory of disease|miasmas]]"), and to treat [[putrefaction]] of existing wounds, including septic wounds.<ref>Scott, James (trans.). ''[https://books.google.com/books?id=pD0XAQAAMAAJ On the disinfecting properties of Labarraque's preparations of chlorine]'' {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151231220856/https://books.google.com/books?id=pD0XAQAAMAAJ&printsec=frontcover |date=2015-12-31 }} (S. Highley, 1828) Accessed Nov 1, 2011.</ref> In his 1828 work, Labarraque recommended that doctors breathe chlorine, wash their hands in chlorinated lime, and even sprinkle chlorinated lime about the patients' beds in cases of "contagious infection". In 1828, the contagion of infections was well known, even though the agency of the [[Microorganism|microbe]] was not discovered until more than half a century later.

During the [[1832 cholera epidemic|Paris cholera outbreak]] of 1832, large quantities of so-called ''chloride of lime'' were used to disinfect the capital. This was not simply modern [[calcium chloride]], but chlorine gas dissolved in lime-water (dilute [[calcium hydroxide]]) to form [[calcium hypochlorite]] (chlorinated lime). Labarraque's discovery helped to remove the terrible stench of decay from hospitals and dissecting rooms, and by doing so, effectively deodorised the [[Latin Quarter, Paris|Latin Quarter]] of Paris.<ref name="corbin">Corbin, Alain (1988). ''[https://books.google.com/books?id=LI1M4sLcvPAC The Foul and the Fragrant: Odor and the French Social Imagination]''. {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151231220856/https://books.google.com/books?id=LI1M4sLcvPAC&printsec=frontcover |date=2015-12-31 }}. Harvard University Press. pp. 121–22.</ref> These "putrid miasmas" were thought by many to cause the spread of "contagion" and "infection" – both words used before the germ theory of infection. Chloride of lime was used for destroying odors and "putrid matter". One source claims chloride of lime was used by Dr. John Snow to disinfect water from the cholera-contaminated well that was feeding the Broad Street pump in 1854 London,<ref>{{cite book|publisher=Wiley|year=2010|chapter-url=http://samples.sainsburysebooks.co.uk/9780470561324_sample_411014.pdf |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20221009/http://samples.sainsburysebooks.co.uk/9780470561324_sample_411014.pdf |archive-date=2022-10-09 |url-status=live|title=White's Handbook of Chlorination and Alternative Disinfectants|place=Hoboken, NJ|page=452|author=Lewis, Kenneth A.|doi=10.1002/9780470561331.ch9|isbn=978-0-470-56133-1|chapter=Ch. 9 Hypochlorination – Sodium Hypochlorite}}{{dead link|date=December 2017 |bot=KAP03 |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref> though three other reputable sources that describe that famous cholera epidemic do not mention the incident.<ref name="Vinten">Vinten-Johansen, Peter, Howard Brody, Nigel Paneth, Stephen Rachman and Michael Rip. (2003). ''Cholera, Chloroform, and the Science of Medicine''. New York:Oxford University.</ref><ref>Hemphill, Sandra. (2007). ''The Strange Case of the Broad Street Pump: John Snow and the Mystery of Cholera''. Los Angeles:University of California</ref><ref>[[Steven Johnson (author)|Johnson, Steven]]. (2006). ''[[The Ghost Map: The Story of London's Most Terrifying Epidemic and How It Changed Science, Cities, and the Modern World]]''. New York :Riverhead Books</ref> One reference makes it clear that chloride of lime was used to disinfect the [[offal]] and filth in the streets surrounding the Broad Street pump – a common practice in mid-nineteenth century England.<ref name="Vinten" />{{rp|296}}