DOW CHEMICAL COMPANY

leading American petrochemical company that manufactures chemicals, plastics, consumer goods, paint, and many other products for industrial and home use. Headquarters are in Midland, Mich. Dow Chemical Company was founded in 1897 by chemist Herbert H. Dow of Midland to supplement the Midland Chemical Company (1890) and 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 nearby Michigan's plentiful brine deposits. In 1900 Dow Chemical was incorporated, combining all of Dow's Midland properties. After surviving a bromide pricing war against several European concerns during the first decade of the 20th century, Dow began to manufacture 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, an herbicide containing the toxic substance dioxin (q.v.). In 1984 Dow and the other chemical companies settled a class-action lawsuit out of court by agreeing to establish a $180,000,000 fund for the use of the veterans and their families. In 1995 Dow Corning (a joint venture of Dow Chemical and Corning, Inc.) declared bankruptcy following an overwhelming number of lawsuits that were instituted when it was revealed that silicone breast implants manufactured by Dow Corning and other companies had leaked and were held to have caused a variety of health problems. Dow Chemical Company operates major plants in the United States and abroad, operates subsidiaries on every continent, and markets its products worldwide. In addition to producing such familiar consumer products as aspirin, plastic wrap, and Styrofoam plastic foam, it manufactures a broad range of industrial chemicals and metals, plastics and packaging materials, and bioproducts, and it is the most diversified petrochemical company in the world.