Hypochlorite formation from chlorine hydrolysis

The corrosiveness of wet chlorine is due to its hydrolysis to hydrochloric and hypochlor-ous acids. The latter has its own corrosive properties. The combination of the two acids is therefore more potent than HCl alone, and some of the corrosive properties remain after neutralization and the formation of the free hypochlorite ion. Hypochlorites, when contacted with strong acid, also revert to molecular chlorine, which is easily released from solution. Hypochlorites, therefore, must be treated as potentially very toxic, with special precautions to prevent their exposure to acids. 

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