Dow Chemical Company

Dow Chemical Company, American chemical and plastics manufacturer that is one of the world’s leading suppliers of chemicals, plastics, synthetic fibres, and agricultural products. Headquarters are in Midland, Michigan.

Dow Chemical Company was founded in 1897 by chemist Herbert H. Dow of Midland to supplement the Midland Chemical Company (1890) and the Dow Process Company (1895). Created in part because Dow required a bleach plant to use the wastes from the bromine extraction processes performed by Midland Chemical, the new company also began extracting other chemicals such as chlorides, magnesium, and calcium from Michigan’s plentiful brine deposits.

In 1900 Dow Chemical was incorporated, combining all of Dow’s Midland properties. Although the company initially produced bromide, after 1920 it turned to the production of phenol and magnesium, initially for use in World War I munitions.

While the vast majority of Dow products are benign, a number have been the subject of adverse public attention and lawsuits. The company made mustard gas, a toxic blistering agent used in chemical warfare, during World War I. During the Vietnam War it produced napalm, a jellied incendiary reported to have been used indiscriminately against civilians and soldiers. Dow also was one of several makers of Agent Orange, a defoliant containing the toxic substance dioxin. In 1984 Dow and the other chemical companies settled a class-action lawsuit out of court by agreeing to establish a $180 million fund for the use of veterans and the families of veterans exposed to Agent Orange. In 1995 Dow Corning (a joint venture of Dow Chemical and materials manufacturer Corning, Inc.) declared bankruptcy following an overwhelming number of lawsuits claiming that silicone breast implants manufactured by Dow Corning and other companies were responsible for a variety of health problems. Dow Corning remained under bankruptcy protection until June 2004, and the lawsuits were dismissed in 2005. Also in 2005, Vietnamese victims of Agent Orange filed suit against Dow Chemical and the Monsanto Company, an agricultural biotechnology firm that also supplied Agent Orange to the military. However, the lawsuit was later dismissed. In 2009 Dow purchased speciality chemical manufacturer Rohm & Haas, and six years later Dow merged with former rival the DuPont Company to form DowDuPont.

Dow Chemical Company employs tens of thousands of people worldwide and operates manufacturing plants in more than 150 countries. Its products include artificial turf, materials for golf balls and other recreational equipment, adhesives, packaging products, coatings and insulation for wire and cable, building materials, herbicides and insecticides, and chemicals used in the pharmaceutical and automotive industries. Its better-known products include Styrofoam insulation and the pesticide Lorsban.