Great Lakes Chemical Corporation was a chemical research, production, sales and distribution company that produced

specialty chemicals Speciality chemicals (also called specialties or effect chemicals) are particular chemical products which provide a wide variety of effects on which many other industry sectors rely. Some of the categories of speciality chemicals are adhesives, agr ...

used for polymers, fire suppressants and retardants, pool and spa water purification systems and various other applications. In 2005, Great Lakes merged with

Crompton Corporation Crompton Corporation (, formerly Crompton and Knowles) was a chemical research, production, sales and distribution company headquartered in Middlebury, Connecticut. The company produced specialty chemicals used for polymers, fire suppressants and ...

to become

Chemtura Chemtura Corporation was a global corporation headquartered in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, with its other principal executive office in Middlebury, Connecticut. Merged into Lanxess in 2017, the company focused on specialty chemicals for various i ...

. In 2017, Chemtura was purchased by

LANXESS Lanxess AG is a German specialty chemicals company based in Cologne, Germany that was founded in 2004 via the spin-off of the chemicals division and parts of the polymers business from Bayer AG. Shares in Lanxess AG were listed in Germany’s DA ...

History

1930s-1970s

Great Lakes Chemical Company was founded in

Michigan Michigan () is a state in the Great Lakes region of the upper Midwestern United States. With a population of nearly 10.12 million and an area of nearly , Michigan is the 10th-largest state by population, the 11th-largest by area, and the ...

in 1936 to extract

bromine Bromine is a chemical element with the symbol Br and atomic number 35. It is the third-lightest element in group 17 of the periodic table (halogens) and is a volatile red-brown liquid at room temperature that evaporates readily to form a simila ...

from underground salt water brine deposits. It was acquired by McClanahan Oil in 1948 and rechristened Great Lakes Oil and Chemical Company, but by 1960 the company had moved away from oil and gas, instead focusing on the research and production of bromine-based chemicals. At about this time, the company assumed its current name (Great Lakes Chemical Corporation) and built the world's largest bromine plant in southern

Arkansas Arkansas ( ) is a landlocked state in the South Central United States. It is bordered by Missouri to the north, Tennessee and Mississippi to the east, Louisiana to the south, and Texas and Oklahoma to the west. Its name is from the Osage ...

1980s-1990s

Great Lakes grew through the following decades, acquiring several smaller companies in its market and establishing its world headquarters in

West Lafayette, Indiana West Lafayette () is a city in Wabash Township, Tippecanoe County, Indiana, United States, about northwest of the state capital of Indianapolis and southeast of Chicago. West Lafayette is directly across the Wabash River from its sister city, ...

. Among those acquired by Great Lakes was BioLab in 1996, a producer of pool and spa products. The ticker symbol for Great Lakes on the

New York Stock Exchange The New York Stock Exchange (NYSE, nicknamed "The Big Board") is an American stock exchange in the Financial District of Lower Manhattan in New York City. It is by far the world's largest stock exchange by market capitalization of its listed c ...

was GLK. On May 22, 1998, Great Lakes spun off their petroleum additives business as Octel Corp (NYSE:OTL).

2000s

In July 2005, Great Lakes merged with

(formerly Crompton and Knowles) to form

, which was headquartered in

Philadelphia Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Sinc ...

. As of 2015 the corporation employed approximately 2700 people for research, manufacturing, logistics, sales and administration. In addition, the company had significant joint ventures primarily in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

. Net sales in 2014 were $2.2 billion. As of December 31, 2014, Chemtura's global total assets were $2.7 billion.

Environmental impact

Great Lakes is the largest U.S.

methyl bromide Bromomethane, commonly known as methyl bromide, is an organobromine compound with formula C H3 Br. This colorless, odorless, nonflammable gas is produced both industrially and biologically. It has a tetrahedral shape and it is a recognized ozon ...

supplier in the U.S. producing more than 40 million pounds annually at their

El Dorado, Arkansas El Dorado, founded by Matthew Rainey, is a city in, and the county seat of, Union County, on the southern border of Arkansas, United States. According to the 2010 census, the population of the city is 18,884. El Dorado is headquarters of the Ark ...

plants. Great Lakes Chemical's involvement in the bromine business has its roots in leaded gasoline. When

tetraethyl lead Tetraethyllead (commonly styled tetraethyl lead), abbreviated TEL, is an organolead compound with the formula Pb( C2H5)4. It is a fuel additive, first being mixed with gasoline beginning in the 1920s as a patented octane rating booster that all ...

(TEL) was invented as a gasoline additive back in the 1920s, it was found to leave a corrosive byproduct in the engine. Adding

ethylene dibromide 1,2-Dibromoethane, also known as ethylene dibromide (EDB), is an organobromine compound with the chemical formula . Although trace amounts occur naturally in the ocean, where it is formed probably by algae and kelp, it is mainly synthetic. It is a ...

(EDB) to TEL solved the problem. As leaded gasoline began to be phased out in the U.S., Great Lakes developed international markets for its products. Globalization of leaded gasoline makes TEL responsible for nearly 90 percent of airborne lead pollution in Third World cities. Some EDB in leaded gasoline converts to methyl bromide when burned. The

World Meteorological Organization The World Meteorological Organization (WMO) is a specialized agency of the United Nations responsible for promoting international cooperation on atmospheric science, climatology, hydrology and geophysics. The WMO originated from the Internati ...

has determined that the continuing exhaust from automobiles using leaded gasoline is one of the three potentially major sources of atmospheric methyl bromide. Great Lakes was a major producer of

polybrominated diphenyl ethers Polybrominated diphenyl ethers or PBDEs, are a class of organobromine compounds that are used as flame retardants. Like other brominated flame retardants, PBDEs have been used in a wide array of products, including building materials, electronics, ...

. These compounds were marketed as flame retardants until they were banned in Europe. These persistent compounds can mimic the effect of thyroid hormones, and interfere with reproduction and nerve and tissue development.Science News: Flame retardants
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References

External links

Chemtura Corporation web siteLANXESS web site
{{Authority control Chemical companies of the United States Companies based in Michigan West Lafayette, Indiana Manufacturing companies based in Indiana Chemtura 2005 mergers and acquisitions