Chlorine abundances in star-forming regions of the local Universe

Aims. We aim to study the behaviour of Cl abundance and its ratios with respect to O, S, and Ar abundances in a sample of more than 200 spectra of Galactic and extragalactic H II regions and star-forming galaxies (SFGs) of the local Universe. Methods. We used the DEep Spectra of Ionised REgions Database (DESIRED) Extended project (DESIRED-E) that comprises more than 2000 spectra of H II regions and SFGs with direct determinations of electron temperature ( T e ). From this database, we selected spectra for which it is possible to determine the Cl 2+ abundance and whose line ratios meet certain observational criteria. We calculated the physical conditions and Cl, O, S, and Ar abundances in a homogeneous manner for all the spectra. We compared them with results of photoionisation models to carry out an analysis of which is the most appropriate T e indicator for the nebular volume where Cl 2+ lies, proposing a scheme that improves the determination of the Cl 2+ abundance. We compared the Cl/O ratios obtained using two different ionisation correction factor (ICF) schemes. We also compared the nebular Cl/O distribution with stellar determinations. Results. Our analysis indicates that one of the tested ICF schemes provides a better match to the observed Cl/O ratio distributions. We find that the log(Cl/O) versus 12+log(O/H) and log(Cl/Ar) versus 12+log(Ar/H) distributions are not correlated in the whole metallicity range covered by our objects indicating a lockstep evolution of those elements. In contrast, the log(Cl/S) versus 12+log(S/H) distribution shows a weak correlation with a slight negative slope.