Talk:Dow Chemical Company

The following sections need review

Bisphenol-A

Dow Chemical is one of the leading manufacturers of Bisphenol A (BPA), a chemical that is used in the making of polycarbonate plastics and epoxy resins. Recent studies have shown that the BPA in common consumer products is leading to many serious diseases, even at a low level. Effects include infertility, obesity, breast and prostate cancer, diabetes, thyroid malfunction, and attention deficit disorder. Recent studies have also found links to genetic problems leading to chromosome abnormalities which can lead to miscarriages, Down's syndrome, and Turner syndrome, among other serious conditions. Some common products containing BPA include the linings of canned foods, household appliance parts, compact discs, sunglasses, eating utensils, paints, and reusable bottles. See more here. See also an extensive list of products containing BPA in the Friends of the Earth publication, "Bisphenol A in plastics - does it make us sick? A consumer guide."

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/09/120924152528.htm

Chlorpyrifos

Chlorpyrifos is a pesticide manufactured and sold by Dow Chemical. At low exposures Chlorpyrifos is known to cause nausea, dizziness, and confusion, and at very high exposures has been linked to respiratory paralysis and death.

Air pollution

Dow ranked number 7 in the Political Economy Research Institute's top 100 air polluters in the U.S. for 2012.

Purchasing agreement for gasified coal

On April 27, 2009 Dow & GreatPoint Energy (a coal gasification company) signed an agreement that gives Dow the option to buy GreatPoint's gasified coal if the company reaches the commercial level. If the two companies do decide to do business with each other, they will enter into a fifteen-year contract and Dow will buy gas from GreatPoint's first three commercial plants. The press release states: "Dow is one of the country’s largest industrial users of natural gas and has over thirty years of gasification experience, having developed its own gasification technology, known as E-gas, and extensive chemical industry processing and technology scale-up experience… Daniel Goldman, GreatPoint Energy’s Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer, who led the negotiations with Dow, commented, “having Dow as a potential major purchaser of natural gas further validates our technology and enables financing structures that will reduce our cost of production." GreatPoint Energy CEO Andrew Perlman stated, “This potential gas agreement will also enable us to move forward with the development of large scale facilities in North America.”

In 2007, Dow worked with Citi Sustainable Development Investments, The AES Corp., and Suncor Energy, Inc. to put together a $100 million investment for GreatPoint Energy. The investment was used to create a pilot gasification plant called the Mayflower Clean Energy Center, located at Dominion's Brayton Point station in Somerset, Massachusetts. This was the largest "green tech" investment of 2007, and "one of the industry's biggest venture capital rounds ever."

Shifting material from article page pending rewrite and expanding the referencing. --Bob Burton 15:08, 24 Apr 2006 (EDT)

On December 3rd, 1984, the company Union Carbide, now a wholly owned subsidiary of Dow Chemical, caused the greatest industrial tragedy in history, when a chemical leak, caused by cutbacks on safety, killed thousands of people living in Bhopal, India. Twenty-seven tons of lethal gases leaked from the Union Carbide's pesticide factory, immediately killing 8,000 people and poisoning thousands of others. The factory's safety systems were all either malfunctioning, under repair, or switched off as part of a cost-cutting excercise

Today at least 150,000, including children born to parents who survived the disaster, are suffering from exposure-related health effects such as cancer, neurological damage, and mental illness.

The abandoned factory stands in Bhopal as it did 20 years ago and continues to contaminate the soil and drinking water in Bhopal. Over 20,000 people are forced to drink water laced with alarmingly high levels of mercury, dichlorobenzene, chloroform, carbon tetachlordie and other presistent organic pollutants and heavy metals. Traces of lead and mercury have also been found in breast milk of women living in Bhopal. Many victims do not have access to appropriate medical treatment and are unable to pursue their usual means of livelihood due to illness.

To date, the CEO of the company at the time, Warren Anderson, has not been brought to trial. A very meager compensation package has slowly been finding its way to the people of Bhopal.

[1] Click here for a list of Dow facilities. [2]

See also Dow Chemical entry at Knowmore.org

Memorable Dow products

• Agent Orange is a dioxin contaminated herbicide and defoliant used throughout the Vietnam and Cambodian wars to destroy "communist" villages (i.e. those suspected of harbouring Viet Cong); dioxin is a carcinogen with lasting effects.

Two rarely told stories about Agent Orange:

1. After the Vietnam War, Dow Chemical reconstituted Agent Orange to be used as a herbicide to purportedly keep high tension cable paths cleared. This toxic chemical (millions of gallons) was sprayed in the southern Amazon region of Brazil to clear vegetated areas. This "new herbicide," Agent Orange dried up vegetated areas which, allowed farmers to later use a slash and burn method in those same locations.
2. In the 1980's the World Bank aggressively began promoting the cultivation of coffee in Vietnam. The problem is that significant numbers of coffee trees were planted in dioxin contaminated areas, resulting in further contamination of the coffee production. NB: Several companies produced Agent Orange, e.g., Monsanto, Hercules, but Dow Chemical produced the bulk of it and stored it in enormous quantities.

• Napalm was originally developed by Louis Fieser in 1943, and then "improved" by adding phosphorus (to make it continue to burn when doused with water) and liquid plastics (so it would stick better to skin and other surfaces).

2013 Lobbying Data for Dow

Lobbying Firm	Amount Reported	Issue
Alclade	$80,000	Regulations for the implementation of methyl bromide alternatives under Title VI of the Clean Air Act; implementation of the Montreal Protocol; United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change; order granting objections to tolerances and pending requests for stay: sulfuryl fluoride;
Bergeson & Campbell	$12,000	USDA conservation programs; nitrogen stabilizers for efficient nutrient use
Cove Strategies	$140,000	Policy supporting growth in manufacturing; S. 192/H.R. 580, Expedited LNC for American Allies Act of 2013
Dow Agrosciences	$970,000	Endangered Species Act Reform and FIFRA reform and guidance; APHIS guidance; H.R. 6083, Federal Agriculture Reform and Risk Management Act (Farm Bill); Changes to the Plant Protection Act; Sulfuryl fluoride food tolerance withdraw; herbicide tolerance trait regulation; 2, 4-D new product approval
Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe	$30,000	Rule-making regarding export public interest test
Ernst & Young	$200,000	International tax issues; tax reform
Holland & Knight	$230,000	Energy efficiency and renewable energy matters; green products issues; energy supply; Chemical Facility Anti-Terrorism Standards legislation; EPA and USDA product approval
James Callan & Associates	$124,000	Obtaining long-term solution to maintaining sulfuryl fluoride as a fumigant for food uses and related legislation and regulation
MWR Strategies	$90,000	Energy issues
Policy Navigation	$30,000	EPA regulation of dioxin
Valente & Associates	$70,000	General environment and energy issues
The Dow Chemical Company	$9,680,000	HR 5702, To extend temporary suspension of duty on Diiodomethyl-p-tolylsulfone; HR 5703, To extend temporary suspension of duty on 2-Propenoic acid, polymer with diethenylbenzene; HR 5704, To renew the temporary suspension of duty on Methyl Hydroxyethyl Cellulose; HR 4880, To extend suspension of duty on ion-exchange resin powder, dried to less than 10 percent moisture; HR 4881, To extend suspension of duty on an ion exchange resin comprising a copolymer of styrene crosslinked with divinylbenzene, iminodiacetic acid, sodium form; HR 4882, To extend suspension of duty on an ion exchange resin comprising a copolymer of styrene crosslinked with ethenylbenzene, aminophosphonic acid, sodium form; HR 4884, To extend temporary suspension of duty on 2-Phenylphenol sodium salt; HR 4886, To extend temporary suspension of duty on 2-Phenylphenol; HR 5346, To extend temporary suspension of duty on Macroporous; HR 5347, To extend temporary suspension of duty on certain ion-exchange resin powder; HR 5348, To temporarily suspend duty on poly(4-1-isobutoxy ethoxy)styrene-co-4-hydroxystyrene; HR 5360, To extend temporary suspension of duty on powdered ion exchange resin comprised of a copolymer of styrene, cross linked with divinyl-benzene; HR 5361, To extend temporary suspension of duty on 10,10'-Oxybisphenoxarsine; HR 5362, To suspend temporarily the duty on certain macroporus adsorpent polymers; HR 5363, To suspend temporarily the duty on 4-(1-Ethoxyethoxy) styrene-4- (t-butylcarbonyloxy) styrene-4-hydroxystyrene copolymer; HR 4996, To extend temporary suspension of duty on quinoline; HR 4997, To extend and modify temporary suspension of duty on 2-Cyanopyridine; HR 4998, To extend temporary reduction of duty on DAT intermediate; HR 4999, To extend the temporary reduction of duty on DMDS; HR 5000, To extend temporary reduction of duty on methoxyfenozide; HR 5001, To extend the temporary suspension of duty on Quintec; HR 5002, To suspend temporarily the duty on Benzamide, N[[[3,5 Dichloro-2-fluoro-4-1,1,2,3,3,3-hexafluoropropoxy)phenyl] amino]carbonyl]2,6 difluoro - (9Cl); HR 5003, To extend temporary suspension of duty on Dimethyl malonate; HR 5004, To extend temporary suspension of duty on diphenyl sulfide; HR 5005, To extend temporary suspension of duty on 2,6-Dichloroaniline; HR 5006, To extend temporary suspension of duty on DEPCT; HR 5007, To suspend temporarily duty on 2 methoxy-4-trifluoromethylpyridine; HR 5008, To extend temporary suspension of duty on fenbuconazole; HR 5009, To extend temporary suspension of duty on 1,3-Dimethyl-2-imidazolidinone; HR 5010, To suspend temporarily duty on 2-Amino-5,7-dimethoxy-1,2,4-triazolo[1,5-a]pyrimidine; HR 5011, To suspend temporarily the duty on a Formulated product containing Propyzamide as the active ingredient; HR 5012, To extend temporary suspension of duty on MCPA-2-ethylhexyl; HR 5013, To suspend temporarily the duty on Tebuthiuron; HR 5014, To suspend temporarily the duty on 4 Ethoxy 1,1,1 trifluoro 3 butene-2-one; HR 5015, To extend temporary suspension of duty on Ethalfluralin; HR 5016, To suspend temporarily the duty on 2 Chloro 1 (3 ethoxy 4 nitrophenoxy) 4 (trifluoromethyl) Benzene; HR 5017, To suspend temporarily the duty on Dichlormid; HR 5018, To extend temporary suspension of duty on propiconazole; HR 5019, To extend temporary suspension of duty on Gallery; HR 5020, To extend temporary suspension of duty on mixtures of fungicide; HR 5021, To extend temporary suspension of duty on myclobutanil; HR 5022, To suspend temporarily the duty on (R)-(+)-2-(4 hydroxyphenoxy)propionic acid; HR 5023, To suspend temporarily the duty on Acetic Acid, 5 Chloro-8-quinolinoxy, 1 Methylhexylester; HR 5024, To extend temporary suspension of duty on Benfluralin; HR 5025, To extend temporary suspension of duty on trifluralin; HR 5026, To extend temporary suspension of duty on 4,4-Dimethoxy-2-butanone; HR 5027, To extend temporary suspension of duty on mixed isomers of 1,3-dichloropropene; Toxic Substances Control Act; energy efficiency legislation; natural gas exports; regulatory reform legislation; extension and expansion of research tax credit; renewable energy and energy efficiency tax benefits; corporate tax reform; domestic partner tax equity; international taxation; superfund taxes; H.R. 8, American Taxpayer Relief Act; FY2014 Budget and related resolutions; fiscal cliff resolution; hybrid pension design reform and guidance; PBGC premiums; pension funding derivatives; implementation and improvements to health reform proposals; ERISA preemption; health information technology; employer wellness programs; domestic partner health plans; health savings accounts; retiree health; Congressional oversight of chemical and transportation security issues and programs; U.S. manufacturing growth policies; Helium Stewardship Act of 2012; Cyber Information Sharing and Protection Act; Chemical Safety Improvement Act; Endangered Species Reform Act and FIFRA reform and guidance; APHIS guidance; changes to the Plant Protection Act; herbicide tolerance trait regulation; 2,4-D new product approval; the Regulatory Accountability Act; the Federal Permitting Improvement Act; the Independent Agency Regulatory Analysis Act; SAVE Act; Trans Pacific Partnership; market access in India and China; TTIP; Trade Promotion Authority; repeal of transitional reimbursement fee