Educational information, not medical advice — ask your doctor or midwife.
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Chlorum is a homeopathic remedy. It is made from chlorine gas. In homeopathy (a system that uses very dilute remedies), it has been given for breathing complaints such as a tight chest, a barking cough and a hoarse voice.
The remedy is made by diluting the source again and again, with shaking between each step. The common strength, 30C, means that step has been repeated 30 times. At that point essentially none of the original chlorine is left in the pellet or drop.
Here is the plain verdict on the evidence. Trials of homeopathic remedies do not show effects beyond placebo (a dummy treatment with no active drug), and no trial has tested Chlorum itself. Long use inside a tradition tells you what healers did; it is not proof that a remedy works.
There is no known way for Chlorum to act on the body, because there is no measurable chlorine left in it.
Homeopathy works from the idea of "like cures like". Chlorine gas irritates the airways, so homeopaths gave the diluted form for airway complaints. They also hold that shaking leaves an imprint of the source in the water or sugar.
That idea has not been shown to happen. No test has found such an imprint, and no body process is known that could respond to it. Any relief people report is best explained by placebo, by time, or by other treatment they are also taking.
Chlorum is sold as tiny sugar pellets, as sugar tablets, and as liquid drops in alcohol and water.
Pellets are the most common form and are meant to melt under the tongue. Drops are usually taken in a little water.
Labels show a potency such as 6C, 30C or 200C. A higher number means more rounds of dilution, not a stronger drug.
Chlorine gas was first made in 1774 by the Swedish chemist Carl Wilhelm Scheele. It was later used to bleach cloth and to make water safe to drink.
Homeopaths took it up in the 1800s. They tested it on healthy volunteers, wrote down the symptoms, and listed it in their reference books for croup-like coughs and breathless spells.
Chlorum has always been a minor, rarely used remedy. It is far less used than staples such as Arnica or Belladonna.
Some reactions to Chlorum need urgent care. Call your local emergency number or go to an emergency department straight away — do not wait to see whether it passes.
Get emergency help straight away for hard or noisy breathing, gasping, blue or grey lips, chest pain, or a child who cannot speak in full sentences.
See your doctor soon if a cough lasts more than three weeks, if you cough up blood, if you have a fever that will not settle, or if you are short of breath doing things you used to manage easily.
Also see your doctor if hoarseness lasts more than three weeks, since a lasting voice change should always be checked.
Evidence grades and traditional-use labels are explained in our methodology. Nothing here is medical advice.
What it is typically used for, usual dose, cautions, and the study behind it where real trial data exists.
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