Can a person be chlorine-deficient?

Factual Questions
1

Chlorine is the main anion that balances the cations of sodium, potassium, calcium and magnesium in the body. But those electrolytes can also be consumed balanced by other anions such as carbonates, sulfates, nitrates, or by organic acids such as citrate. So how does the body keep from running a deficit of chlorine?

2

This is a guess, but you get pretty much all of your chloride in the form of NaCl, so you get equal osmoles of each Na and Cl when you eat or drink anything salty. Your kidneys have excellent ways of conserving (or ridding, as the case may be) NaCl and ridding other unwanted ions seeing as how it’s pretty important to your electrolyte balance. I’m lazy, wiki serach proximal and distal convoluted tubules.

3

Former chemistry instructor nitpicks:

  1. “Chlorine” is not an anion. The ionic form is referred to as “chloride.”

  2. Citrate ion is not an organic acid. It is the conjugate base of citric acid.

Carry on! :wink:

4

Chloride-imbalance
What is chloride-imbalance?

Chloride-imbalance refers to both Hypochloremia and hyperchloremia. Hypochloremia occurs due to deficient serum level of the anion chloride. and hyperchloremia occurs because of an excessive serum chloride level. Chloride is useful for digestion and activation of enzymes because it provides acid medium conducive and it also maintain acid-base and body water balances. It may cause to some symptoms like confusion, bone disorders, muscle spasm, weakness etc.
Causes of chloride-imbalance

* decreased chloride or low dietary sodium intake or absorption, prolonged use of mercurial diuretics may cause to the chloride-imbalance.
* it may occur because of excessive chloride loss, resulting from prolonged diarrhea or diaphoresis.
* extra chloride intake or absorption allowing reabsorption of chloride by the bowel may be responsible for chloride imbalance.
* hemoconcentration which is caused by dehydration.
* compensatory mechanisms for other metabolic abnormalities may cause to the chloride imbalance.

from http://www.disease-condition.com/diseases/chloride-imbalance.htm