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76-651: Ralph Wiley accidentally discovered polyvinylidene chloride polymer in 1933. At the time he was a college student who worked part-time at Dow Chemical lab as a dishwasher. While cleaning laboratory glassware, he came across a vial he could not scrub clean. Dow researchers made this material into a greasy, dark green film, first called "Eonite" and then " Saran ". Ralph Wiley went on to become one of Dow Chemical's research scientists and invent and develop many plastics, chemicals and production machines. The military sprayed Saran on fighter planes to guard against salty sea spray, and carmakers used it for upholstery. Dow later devised

152-561: A bleach output of 72 tons a day in 1902. Early in the company's history, a group of British manufacturers tried to drive Dow out of the bleach business by cutting prices. Dow survived by also cutting its prices and, although losing about $ 90,000 in income, began to diversify its product line . In 1905, German bromide producers began dumping bromides at low cost in the U.S. in an effort to prevent Dow from expanding its sales of bromides in Europe. Instead of competing directly for market share with

228-444: A class-action civil lawsuit won at a jury trial in 2013. Dow settled the suit in 2016 for $ 835 million. In the early 1990s, Dow embarked on a major structural reorganization. The former reporting hierarchy was geographically based, with the regional president reporting directly to the overall company president and CEO. The new organization combines the same businesses from different sites, irrespective of which region they belong (i.e.

304-467: A deteriorated credit market and the collapse of the K-Dow Petrochemical deal as reasons for failing to timely close the merger. Around the same time, CEO Andrew Liveris said a first- time cut to the company's 97- year- old dividend policy was not "off the table". On 12 February 2009, the company declared a quarterly dividend of $ 0.15/share, down from $ 0.42 the previous quarter. The cut represented

380-500: A first 750000 tonne per year unit, while other units would become available in the future. An ethylene production facility was expected to start up in the first half of 2017. On 27 March 2015, Dow and Olin Corporation announced that the boards of directors of both companies unanimously approved a definitive agreement under which Dow will separate a significant portion of its chlorine business and merge that new entity with Olin in

456-433: A formulation of polyvinylidene chloride free of unpleasant odour and green colour. The most well known use of polyvinylidene chloride came in 1953, when Saran Wrap , a plastic food wrap, was introduced. In 2004, however, the formula was changed to low-density polyethylene due to environmental concerns about its chlorine content and other disadvantages . It is a remarkable barrier against water, oxygen, and aromas. It has

532-468: A high-gloss finish, which may be aesthetically pleasing and also provides a high degree of scuff resistance if applied over print. In household settings, PVDC is used in cleaning cloths, filters, screens, tape, shower curtains, and garden furniture. Industrially, it is used in screens, artificial turf, waste-water treatment materials, and underground materials. PVDC is also used in doll hair, stuffed animals, fabrics, fishnet, pyrotechnics, and shoe insoles. It

608-597: A personal hobby on the grounds of their residence. Herbert Henry Dow High School in Midland, Michigan opened in 1968, and is named after Dow. Among his awards is the Perkin Medal , received in 1930. His home in Midland, known as Herbert H. Dow House , was declared a U.S. National Historic Landmark in 1976. Grace established the Herbert H. and Grace A. Dow Foundation during 1936 in memory of her husband Herbert to enhance

684-487: A possible leveraged buyout of Dow. The two executives have since filed lawsuits claiming they were fired for being a threat to CEO Liveris, and that the allegations were concocted as a pretext. However, in June 2008 Dow Chemical and the litigants announced a settlement in which Kreinberg and Reinhard dropped their lawsuits and admitted taking part in discussions "which were not authorized by, nor disclosed to, Dow's board concerning

760-635: A potential LBO" and acknowledged that it would have been appropriate to have informed the CEO and board of the talks. In summer 2008, Dow sold its zoxamide business to Gowan Company. Included in the sale were the trademarks for a potato and grape fungicide called Gavel (fungicide) . It is employed by potato growers to control early and late potato blight and is also registered in Canada for control of downy mildew in grapes , except in British Columbia . In

836-485: A presence in around 160 countries, it employs about 36,000 people worldwide. Dow has been called the "chemical companies' chemical company", as its sales are to other industries rather than directly to end-use consumers. Dow is a member of the American Chemistry Council . In 2015, Dow and fellow chemical company DuPont agreed to a corporate reorganization involving the merger of Dow and DuPont followed by

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912-524: A range of insecticides (such as Lorsban ), herbicides and fungicides . Seeds from genetically modified plants are also an important area of growth for the company. Dow AgroSciences sells seeds commercially under the following brands: Mycogen ( grain corn , silage corn , sunflowers , alfalfa , and sorghum ), Atlas ( soybean ), PhytoGen ( cotton ) and Hyland Seeds in Canada (corn, soybean, alfalfa, navy beans and wheat ). The Dow AgroSciences business unit

988-628: A separation into three different entities. The plan commenced in 2017, when Dow and DuPont merged to form DowDuPont, and was finalized in April 2019, when the materials science division was spun off from DowDuPont and took the name of the Dow Chemical Company. Dow was founded in 1897 by chemist Herbert Henry Dow , who invented a new method of extracting the bromine that was trapped underground in brine at Midland, Michigan. The company originally sold only bleach and potassium bromide , achieving

1064-477: A share) on 9 March 2009. On 12 April 2007, Dow dismissed two senior executives for "unauthorized discussions with third parties about the potential sale of the company". The two figures are executive vice president Romeo Kreinberg , and director and former CFO J. Pedro Reinhard. Dow claims they were secretly in contact with JPMorgan Chase ; at the same time, a story surfaced in Britain's Sunday Express regarding

1140-593: A superior chemical resistance to alkalis and acids , is insoluble in oil and organic solvents, has a very low moisture regain and is impervious to mold, bacteria, and insects. It is soluble in polar solvents . Above 125 °C, it decomposes to produce HCl . While extremely useful as a food packaging agent, the major disadvantage of polyvinylidene chloride is that it will undergo thermally induced dehydrochlorination at temperatures very near to processing temperatures. This degradation easily propagates, leaving polyene sequences long enough to absorb visible light and change

1216-506: A tank containing 2,4,5-T , one of the composites that is used in the production of Agent Orange. The settlement of the case included $ 9 million for the cleanup of affected homes in the area, and $ 84 million to cover the medical monitoring and treatment of people affected by the explosion, as well as legal costs for the claimants. No care has been given for the in state damage done by the Headquarters in Midland, Michigan, and they refuse to give

1292-556: A transaction that will create an industry leader, with revenues approaching $ 7 billion. Olin, the new partnership, became the largest chlorine producer in the world. On 11 December 2015, Dow announced that it would merge with DuPont , in an all-stock deal. The combined company, which was known as DowDuPont , had an estimated value of $ 130 billion, was equally held by the shareholders of both companies, and maintained their respective headquarters in Michigan and Delaware. Within two years of

1368-511: A wide range of crops including cotton , beans , canola , cereals , crucifers , cucurbits , and vegetables. Dinitroanilines, are also known as " DNA herbicides ", and have been commercialised at least since 1970. Dow is a large producer of plastics, including polystyrene , polyurethane , polyethylene , polypropylene , and synthetic rubber . It is also a major producer of ethylene oxide , various acrylates , surfactants , and cellulose resins. It produces agricultural chemicals including

1444-562: Is Dow's largest site, and the largest integrated chemical manufacturing site in the country. The site grew quickly – with power, chlorine, caustic soda and ethylene also soon in production. Growth of this business made Dow a strategic company during World War II, as magnesium became important to manufacture lightweight parts for aircraft . Based on 2002–2003 data, the Freeport plants produced 27 billion lbs of product – or 21% of Dow's global production. In 1942, Dow began its foreign expansion with

1520-469: Is a business unit which manufactures Filmtec reverse osmosis membranes which are used to purify water for human use in the Middle East. The technology was used during the 2000 Summer Olympics and 2008 Summer Olympics . The DW&PS business unit remained with DowDuPont following the April 2019 spin-off. Agricultural Sciences, or ( Dow AgroSciences ), provides 7 percent of sales and is responsible for

1596-866: The Dow process , a method of bromine extraction using electrolysis to oxidize bromide to bromine. Dow wanted to expand his research of electrolysis to yield other chemicals. His financial backers did not approve of his continued research and fired him from the Midland Chemical Company. He continued his research, developing a process to extract chlorine and caustic soda from sodium chloride. After seeking funding from potential backers in Cleveland, including family friends and former Case School of Applied Science classmates, Dow secured funds from James T. Pardee, Albert W. Smith, J. H. Osborn, and Cady Staley . In 1895, Dow moved his young family to Massillon, Ohio and founded

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1672-561: The Environmental Protection Agency to remove 50,000 cubic yards (38,000 m ) of sediment from three areas of the riverbed and levees of the river that had been found to be contaminated. In November 2008, Dow Chemical along with the United States Environmental Protection Agency and Michigan Department of Environmental Quality agreed to establish a Superfund to address dioxin cleanup of

1748-601: The Financial crisis of 2007–2008 , it would accelerate job cuts resulting from its reorganization. The announced plan included closing 20 facilities, temporarily idling 180 plants, and eliminating 5,000 full-time jobs (about 11 percent of its work-force) and 6,000 contractor positions. Citing the global recession that began in the latter half of 2008, the Kuwaiti government scuttled the K-Dow partnership on 28 December 2008. The collapse of

1824-484: The Rocky Flats Plant near Denver, Colorado . Rocky Flats was a nuclear weapons production facility that produced plutonium triggers for hydrogen bombs . Contamination from fires and radioactive waste leakage plagued the facility under Dow's management. In 1957 a fire burned plutonium dust in the facility and sent radioactive particles into the atmosphere. The Department of Energy transferred management of

1900-544: The United States , have subsequently found that silicone breast implants do not cause breast cancers or any identifiable systemic disease. The Bhopal disaster occurred at a pesticide plant owned by Union Carbide India Ltd., a subsidiary of Union Carbide , in 1984. A gas cloud containing methyl isocyanate and other chemicals spread to the neighborhoods near the plant where more than half a million people lived. The government of Madhya Pradesh confirmed 3,787 deaths related to

1976-465: The Vietnam War until 1973. Dow was one of several manufacturers who began producing the napalm B compound under government contract from 1965. After experiencing protests and negative publicity, the other suppliers discontinued manufacturing the product, leaving Dow as the sole provider. The company said that it carefully considered its position, and decided, as a matter of principle, "its first obligation

2052-502: The common equity interest of Rohm and Haas Co. for $ 15.4 billion, which equated to $ 78 per share. The buyout was financed with equity investments of $ 3 billion by Berkshire Hathaway Inc. and $ 1 billion by the Kuwait Investment Authority . The purpose of the deal was to move Dow Chemical further into specialty chemicals , which offer higher profit margins than the commodities market and are more difficult to enter for

2128-922: The pesticide Lorsban and consumer products including Styrofoam . Some Dow consumer products, including Saran wrap, Ziploc bags, and Scrubbing Bubbles were sold to S. C. Johnson & Son in 1997. Performance plastics make up 25% of Dow's sales, with many products designed for the automotive and construction industries . The plastics include polyolefins such as polyethylene and polypropylene , as well as polystyrene used to produce Styrofoam insulating material. Dow manufactures epoxy resin intermediates including bisphenol A and epichlorohydrin . Saran resins and films are based on polyvinylidene chloride (PVDC). The Performance Chemicals (17 percent of sales) segment produces chemicals and materials for water purification , pharmaceuticals , paper coatings , paints and advanced electronics . Major product lines include nitroparaffins, such as nitromethane , used in

2204-600: The 1921 winner of the Indianapolis 500 used the Dowmetal pistons in his vehicle. Dow married Grace Anna Ball , a teacher in Midland, on November 16, 1892. The union bore seven children between 1894 and 1908: Helen, Ruth, Willard, Osborn, Alden B , Margaret and Dorothy Darling. One child, Osborn Curtis, died from Spinal meningitis before his third birthday in 1902. Willard became a chemist with his father's company, succeeding him as chief executive in 1930. Alden became one of

2280-525: The 1921 winner of the Indianapolis 500 used the Dowmetal pistons in his vehicle. In the 1930s, Dow began producing plastic resins, which would grow to become one of the corporation's major businesses. Its first plastic products were ethylcellulose , made in 1935, and polystyrene , made in 1937. From 1940 to 1941, Dow built its first plant in Freeport, Texas , to produce magnesium extracted from seawater rather than underground brine . The Freeport plant

2356-706: The American multinational conglomerate Dow Chemical . A graduate of the Case School of Applied Science in Cleveland, Ohio , he was a prolific inventor of chemical processes, compounds, and products, notably bromine extraction from sea water, and was a successful businessman. Herbert Henry Dow was born in 1866 in Belleville, Ontario , the eldest child of Americans Joseph Henry Dow, an inventor and mechanical engineer, and his wife, Sarah Bunnell, who were from Derby, Connecticut . When

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2432-494: The Bhopal disaster. William S. Stavropoulos served as president and chief executive officer of Dow from 1995 to 2000, then again from 2002 to 2004. He relinquished his board seat on 1 April 2006, having been a director since 1990 and chairman since 2000. During his first tenure, he led the purchase of UCC, which proved controversial, as it was blamed for poor results under his successor as chief executive officer, Mike Parker. Parker

2508-508: The Dow Chemical Company production was in support of the war effort. During this time period, Dow also created the diamond logo, which is still used by the Dow Chemical Company. Following the conclusion of the war, Dow began to research the benefits of magnesium, which the company had in large supply. He discovered that it could be used to make automobile pistons. The new pistons proved to give more speed and better fuel efficiency. The Dowmetal pistons were used heavily in racing vehicles, and

2584-582: The Dow Process Company to develop the production mechanism for his process. The following year he returned to Midland, where he formed the Dow Chemical Company as successor to the Dow Process Company. The Dow Process Company was incorporated with 57 original stockholders. Within three years, his new company purchased the Midland Chemical Company. With his new company and new technology, Dow produced bromine very cheaply, and began selling it in

2660-494: The German producers, Dow bought the cheap German-made bromides and shipped them back to Europe. This undercut his German competitors. Even in its early history, Dow set a tradition of rapidly diversifying its product line. Within twenty years, Dow had become a major producer of agricultural chemicals, elemental chlorine , phenol and other dyestuffs , and magnesium metal. During World War I , Dow supplied many war materials that

2736-696: The Tittabawassee River, Saginaw River and Saginaw Bay . In December 2015, Dow Chemicals agreed to sell part of its global herbicide business, which had reported falling sales for nearly a year. A portfolio of weed killers known as dinitroanilines was sold to privately held Gowan Company , a family owned company located in Yuma , Arizona , which markets a variety of pesticides to the agricultural and horticultural industries. The global trademarks for Treflan (pesticide) ®, which can be sprayed on field corn , cotton and some fruit and vegetables, were included in

2812-542: The U.S. military during the Vietnam War. In 2005, a lawsuit was filed by Vietnamese victims of Agent Orange against Dow and Monsanto Co. , which also supplied Agent Orange to the military. The lawsuit was dismissed. In 2012, Monsanto agreed to a $ 93 million settlement as a result of a case pursued by ex-Monsanto employees and citizens in the city of Nitro, WV. In 1949, a chemical plant in Nitro experienced an explosion that damaged

2888-487: The US market with bromine at 15 cents a pound in an effort to put him out of business. Unable to compete with this predatory pricing in the U.S., Dow instructed his agents to buy up hundreds of thousands of pounds of the German bromine locally at the low price. The Dow company repackaged the bromine and exported it to Europe, selling it even to German companies at 27 cents a pound. The cartel, having expected Dow to go out of business,

2964-752: The United States for 36 cents per pound. At the time, the German government supported a bromine cartel , Deutsche Bromkonvention , which had a near- monopoly on the supply of bromine, which they sold in the US for 49 cents per pound. The Germans had made it clear that they would dump the market with cheap bromine if Dow attempted to sell his product abroad. In 1904 Dow defied the cartel by beginning to export his bromine at its cheaper price to England. A few months later, an angry Bromkonvention representative visited Dow in his office and reminded him to cease exporting his bromine. Unafraid, Dow continued exporting to England and Japan. The German cartel retaliated by dumping

3040-559: The United States had previously imported from Germany. Dow produced magnesium for incendiary flares, monochlorobenzene and phenol for explosives, and bromine for medicines and tear gas. By 1918, 90 percent of Dow's production was geared towards the war effort. At this time, Dow created the diamond logo that is still used by the company. After the war, Dow continued research in magnesium, and it developed refined automobile pistons that produced more speed and better fuel efficiency. The Dowmetal pistons were used heavily in racing vehicles, and

3116-480: The cancer-causing chemical dioxin in November 2006. The dioxin was located in sediments two to ten feet below the surface of the river, and, according to The New York Times , "there is no indication that residents or workers in the area are directly exposed to the sites". However, people who often eat fish from the river had slightly elevated levels of dioxin in their blood. In July 2007, Dow reached an agreement with

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3192-508: The chemical composition of brines in Ohio and nearby areas. He discovered that brine samples from Canton, Ohio and Midland, Michigan were very rich in bromine , which at the time was a primary ingredient in medicines and was widely used in the fledgeling photographic industry. Following his graduation from Case in 1888, Dow worked for a year as a chemistry professor at Huron Street Hospital College in Cleveland, while continuing his research into

3268-472: The color of the material from colorless to an undesirable transparent brown (unacceptable for one of polyvinylidene chloride's chief applications: food packaging). Therefore, there is a significant amount of product loss in the manufacturing process, which increases production and consumer costs. Saran fiber is produced in monofilament, multifilament-twist, and staple fiber forms. It is also available in thermochromic (color changing) and luminescent (glow in

3344-476: The company would not complete the Rohm & Haas transaction, as the cash from the former transaction was expected to fund the latter. The deal was expected to be finalized in early 2009 and was to form one of the nation's largest specialty chemicals firms in the U.S. However, on 26 January 2009 the company informed Rohm and Haas that it would be unable to complete the transaction by the agreed upon deadline. Dow cited

3420-414: The competition. The purchase was criticized by many on Wall Street who believed Dow Chemical overpaid (about a 75 percent premium on the previous day's market capital) to acquire the company; however, the high bid was needed to ward off competing bids from BASF. The transaction to purchase the outstanding interest of Rohm and Haas was closed on 1 April 2009. On 8 December 2008, Dow announced that due to

3496-411: The dark) fibers. Polyvinylidene chloride is applied as a water-based coating to films made of other plastics, such as biaxially-oriented polypropylene (BOPP) and polyethylene terephthalate (PET). This coating increases the barrier properties of the film, reducing the permeability of the film to oxygen and flavours and thus extending the shelf life of the food inside the package. It can also impart

3572-440: The deal dealt a blow to Dow CEO Andrew Liveris ' vision of restructuring the company to make it less cyclical . However, on 6 January 2009 Dow Chemical announced they were in talks with other parties who could be interested in a major joint venture with the company. Dow also announced they that it would be seeking to recover damages related to the failed joint venture from PIC. After the K-Dow deal collapsed, some speculated that

3648-530: The decision. On 23 April 2009 a Los Angeles judge threw out two cases against Dole and Dow due to fraud and extortion by lawyers in Nicaragua recruiting fraudulent plaintiffs to make claims against the company. The ruling casts doubt on $ 2 billion in judgments in similar lawsuits. In February 2013 a federal court rejected two tax shelter transactions entered into by Dow that created approximately $ 1 billion in tax deductions between 1993 and 2003. The court wrote that

3724-904: The direct parent company of The Dow Chemical Company. Also in 2019 Dow employees won an Adhesives and Sealants Council Innovation Award for "UV Curable Primer that Enables Hard to Bond INFUSE Olefin Block Copolymer Midsole Foams in High Performance Footwear". Dow Chemical has begun to shed commodity chemical businesses, such as those making the basic ingredients for grocery bags and plastic pipes, because their profit margins only average 5–10%. Dow is, as of 2015, focusing its resources on specialty chemicals that earn profit margins of at least 20%. Areas along Michigan's Tittabawassee River , which runs within yards of Dow's main plant in Midland , were found to contain elevated levels of

3800-527: The evidence to the community. A major manufacturer of silicone breast implants , Dow Corning (Dow Chemical's Joint Venture with Corning Inc. ) was sued for personal damages caused by ruptured implants. On 6 October 2005, all such cases pending in the District Court against the company were dismissed. A number of large, independent reviews of the scientific literature, including the Institute of Medicine in

3876-442: The extraction of chemicals from brine. In 1889, Dow received his first patent after inventing a more cost-effective and streamlined process for bromine extraction. He quickly formed his own company but was bankrupt within the year. His associates were impressed with his work and in 1890 helped him to found the Midland Chemical Company in Midland, Michigan. Dow continued his work extracting bromine, and by early 1891 he had invented

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3952-411: The facilities will employ about 3000 people, and 5000 people during construction. The plants will manufacture materials for several of its growing segments, including hygiene and medical, transportation, electrical and telecommunications, packaging, consumer durables and sports and leisure. Dow's new propane dehydrogenation (PDH) facility in Freeport, Texas, was expected to come online in 2015, with

4028-521: The facility to Rockwell International in 1975. In 1990, nearby residents filed a class action lawsuit against Dow and Rockwell for environmental contamination of the area; the case was settled in 2017 for $ 375 million. According to the Appellate Court, the owners of the 12,000 properties in the class-action area had not proved that their properties were damaged or they had suffered bodily injury. The United States military used napalm bombs during

4104-406: The falsification of test results and the recruitment of plaintiffs who had never worked at Dole plantations. While Nicaraguan courts awarded the plaintiffs over $ 600 million in damages, they have been unable to collect any payment from the companies. A group of plaintiffs then sued in the United States, and, on 5 November 2007, a Los Angeles jury awarded them $ 3.2 million. Dole and Dow vowed to appeal

4180-408: The first time the company had diminished its investor payout in the dividend's 97-year history. The transaction to purchase the outstanding interest of Rohm and Haas closed on 1 April 2009. After negotiating the sale of preferred stock with Rohm and Hass' two largest stockholders and extending their one-year bridge loan an additional year, the company purchased Rohm and Haas for $ 15 billion ($ 78

4256-504: The formation of Dow Chemical of Canada in Sarnia, Ontario , to produce styrene for use in styrene-butadiene synthetic rubber . Also during the war, Dow and Corning began their joint venture, Dow Corning , to produce silicones for military and, later, civilian use. The Ethyl-Dow Chemical Co. plant at Kure's Beach, NC , the only plant on the East Coast producing bromine from seawater,

4332-465: The formation of a joint venture, later named K-Dow, with Petrochemical Industries Co. (PIC), a subsidiary of Kuwait Petroleum Corporation . In exchange for $ 9.5 billion, the agreement included Dow selling 50-percent of its interest in five global businesses: polyethylene, polypropylene and polycarbonate plastics, and ethylenamines and ethanolamines . The agreement was terminated by PIC on 28 December 2008. On 10 July 2008, Dow agreed to purchase all of

4408-480: The fourth quarter of 2014, Dow announced new operating segments in response to its previously announced leadership changes. The company stated it would give further support to its end-market orientation and increase its alignment to Dow's key value chains – ethylene and propylene. Several plants on the Gulf Coast of the US have been in development since 2013, as part of Dow's transition away from naphtha. Dow estimates

4484-458: The gas release. The leak caused 558,125 injuries, including 38,478 temporary partial injuries and approximately 3,900 severely and permanently disabling injuries. Union Carbide was sued by the Government of India and agreed to an out-of-court settlement of US$ 470 million in 1989. Dow Chemical acquired Union Carbide in 2001. Activists want Dow Chemical to clean up the site which is now controlled by

4560-631: The infant boy was six weeks old, the family returned to their hometown. They moved again in 1878, this time to Cleveland to follow Joseph's job with the Derby Shovel Manufacturing Company. After graduating from high school in 1884, Dow enrolled in the Case School of Applied Science (now known as Case Western Reserve University ). While at Case, he became a member of the Phi Kappa Psi fraternity. He began specialized research into

4636-547: The merger was pushed back a second time pending regulatory approvals. The same day, Dow also announced that it had reached a deal to acquire Corning Incorporated 's stake in their joint venture Dow Corning for $ 4.8 billion in cash and a roughly 40% stake in Hemlock Semiconductor Corporation . In 2019, DowDuPont de-merged, forming Dow Inc. The spin-off was completed on 1 April 2019, at which time Dow Inc. became an independent, publicly traded company, and

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4712-429: The merger's closure, DowDuPont was set to split into three separate public companies, focusing on the agriculture, chemical, and specialty product industries. Shareholders of each company held 50% of the combined company. In the new entity, Dow Chemical chief executive officer Andrew N. Liveris became executive chairman and DuPont chief executive officer Edward D. Breen became chief executive officer. In January 2017,

4788-473: The nation's leading architects. The family house was shared with Hebert Dow's parents, Joseph and Sarah Dow, and his sisters, Helen and Mary Dow. By the time of his death on October 15, 1930, from cirrhosis of the liver, Dow had personally received over 90 patents. Dow was survived by his wife, Grace , and five of their seven children. In 1899, Dow started the Dow Gardens in Midland, Michigan , as

4864-409: The pharmaceutical industry and manufactured by Angus Chemical Company, a wholly owned subsidiary of The Dow Chemical Co. Important polymers include Dowex ion-exchange resins , acrylic and polystyrene latex , as well as Carbowax polyethylene glycols . Specialty chemicals are used as starting materials for production of agrochemicals and pharmaceuticals. Dow Water and Process Solutions (DW&PS)

4940-494: The sale, as well as a formulation and packaging facility in Fort Saskatchewan , Alberta , Canada. Edge (pesticide) ®, Team (pesticide) ®, Bonalan (pesticide) ® and Sonalan (pesticide) ®, intellectual property and labels for herbicides based on the molecules trifluralin , benfluralin and ethalfluralin were also included in the sale. Annual grasses and small seeded broadleaf weeds can be controlled with these products in

5016-509: The state of Madhya Pradesh . Until the late 1970s, Dow produced DBCP (1,2-dibromo-3-chloropropane), a soil fumigant, and nematicide , sold under the names the Nemagon and Fumazone. Plantation workers who alleged that they became sterile or were stricken with other maladies subsequently sued both Dow and Dole Foods in Latin American courts. The cases were marred by extensive fraud, including

5092-466: The transactions were "schemes that were designed to exploit perceived weaknesses in the tax code and not designed for legitimate business reasons". The schemes were created by Goldman Sachs and the law firm of King & Spalding , and involved creating a partnership that Dow operated out of its European headquarters in Switzerland. Dow stated that it had paid all tax assessments with interest. The case

5168-415: The vice president for Polystyrene is now in charge of these plants all over the world). At the beginning of August 1999, Dow agreed to purchase Union Carbide Corp. (UCC) for $ 9.3 billion in stock. At the time, the combined company was the second largest chemical company, behind DuPont. This led to protests from some stockholders , who feared that Dow did not disclose potential liabilities related to

5244-443: Was able to extract many more chemicals from brine. World War I provided demand that enabled its growth, because Britain blockaded the ports of Germany, which at the time included most of the world's largest chemical suppliers. Dow Chemical quickly moved to fill the gap for wartime goods, producing magnesium for incendiary flares, monochlorobenzene and phenol for explosives, and bromine for medicines and tear gas. By 1918, 90% of

5320-572: Was against the Internal Revenue Service seeking a refund of the taxes paid. The case was appealed to the 5th Circuit court, where Dow's claims were again rejected. Dow has petitioned for an en banc hearing by the 5th Circuit, arguing that the decision was contrary to established case law. Dow Chemical was implicated in a price-fixing scheme that inflated the cost of polyurethane for customers. The U.S. Justice Department closed an investigation in 2007 without charges or recommendations, but

5396-541: Was attacked by a German U-boat in 1942. In the post-war era, Dow began expanding outside of North America, founding its first overseas subsidiary in Japan in 1952, and in several other nations soon thereafter. Based largely on its growing plastics business, Dow opened a consumer products division, beginning with Saran wrap in 1953. Based on its growing chemicals and plastics businesses, Dow's sales exceeded $ 1 billion in 1964 and $ 2 billion in 1971. From 1951 to 1975, Dow managed

5472-527: Was dismissed and Stavropoulos returned from retirement to lead Dow. On 31 August 2006, Dow announced that it planned to close facilities at five locations: In 2006, Dow formed the Business Process Service Center (BPSC). In December 2007, Dow announced a series of moves to revamp the company. A 4 December announcement revealed that Dow planned to exit the automotive sealers business in 2008 or 2009. Within several weeks, Dow also announced

5548-436: Was spun off into Corteva Inc , on 3 June 2019. Basic plastics (26 percent of sales) end up in everything from diaper liners to beverage bottles and oil tanks. Products are based on the three major polyolefins – polystyrene (such as Styron resins), polyethylene and polypropylene . Herbert Henry Dow Herbert Henry Dow (February 26, 1866 – October 15, 1930) was an American chemical industrialist who founded

5624-583: Was to the government". Despite a boycott of its products by anti-war groups and harassment of recruiters on some college campuses, Dow continued to manufacture napalm B until 1969. Agent Orange , a chemical defoliant containing dioxin , was also manufactured by Dow in New Plymouth , New Zealand, and Midland, Michigan, in the United States for use by the British military during the Malayan Emergency and

5700-674: Was unable to comprehend what was driving the enormous demand for bromine in the U.S., and where all the cheap imported bromine dumping their market was coming from. They suspected their own members of violating their price-fixing agreement and selling in Germany below the cartel's fixed cost. The cartel continued to slash prices on their bromine in the U.S., first to 12 cents a pound, and then to 10.5 cents per pound. The cartel finally caught on to Dow's tactic and realized that they could not keep selling below cost. They then increased their prices worldwide. Dow Chemical Company focused on research, and soon

5776-402: Was used in special photographic film. Dow Chemical The Dow Chemical Company is an American multinational corporation headquartered in Midland, Michigan , United States. The company was among the three largest chemical producers in the world in 2021. It is the operating subsidiary of Dow Inc. , a publicly traded holding company incorporated under Delaware law . With

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