What Is Calcium Chloride Used For?
While it costs three times more than traditional rock salt, calcium chloride is still the ice-melter of choice. A little goes a long way with this compound, which allows the budget-conscious the ability to justify their purchase. Aside from its industrial uses, you may also find it in your food or in use at hospitals to treat a number of conditions.
Medically, calcium chloride can be injected intravenously to treat low calcium (Hypocalcemia), Black Widow Spider bites, hives, magnesium intoxication, acute lead colic or cardiac arrest. When patients pass out during open heart surgery, a dose of this can wake them up. In some patients who are experiencing weak myocardial contractions, boosting calcium levels can succeed where epinephrine failed. Naturally, the presence of calcium balances the presence of everything from potassium and magnesium to stomach acids. If a patient is experiencing an adverse reaction to Cardizem, a Calcium Channel Blocker drug like calcium chloride can intervene and prevent a heart attack. Biologists sometimes use this compound in genetics to increase cell membrane permeability to ensure DNA uptake.
Calcium chloride is also FDA approved for use in food manufacturing. For example, sports drinks like Nestle and SmartWater use it as a salty electrolyte. In vegetables, it acts as a preservative. For pickles, high concentrations of the compound add a salty flavor, without increasing the sodium content. Cadbury Caramilk chocolate bars use this calcium supplement as a drying agent, to keep moisture out of the packaging. In processed milk, it restores the balance between calcium and protein. In beer brewing, it fixes mineral deficiencies and activates many vital processes, such as enzyme activity in the mash, protein coagulation in the kettle and metabolism of yeast.
Calcium chloride comes in many different forms, such as flakes, pellets, powders, liquids and solids. Over the years, the price of the industrial compound has increased due to shrinking profit margins, but a little goes a long way with this useful substance. Whether you need it for ridding your sidewalks of ice quickly, for reducing dust content of the roads in your construction business, or to save you from a life-threatening situation, this useful compound is readily available.