Abstract Chlorine is a major fuel contaminant when by-product hydrogen from the chlor-alkali industry is used as the fuel for proton exchange membrane (PEM) fuel cells. Understanding the effects of chlorine contamination on fuel cell performance and durability is essential to address fuel cell applications for the automotive and stationary markets. This paper reports our findings of chloride contamination effects on PEM fuel cell performance and durability, as our first step in understanding the effects of chlorine contamination. Fuel cell contamination tests were conducted by injecting ppm levels of contaminant into the fuel cell from either the fuel stream or the air stream. In situ and ex situ diagnosis were performed to investigate the contamination mechanisms. The results show that cell voltage during chloride contamination is characterized by an initial sudden drop followed by a plateau, regardless of which side the contaminant is introduced into the fuel cell. The drop in cell performance is predominantly due to increased cathode charge transfer resistance as a result of electrochemical catalyst surface area (ECSA) loss attributable to the blocking of active sites by Cl − and enhanced Pt dissolution.