Dow Corning

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Dow Corning is a multinational corporation headquartered in Midland, Michigan, USA. Dow Corning specializes in silicon-based technology and innovation, offering more than 7,000 products and services. Dow Corning is equally owned by The Dow Chemical Company and Corning, Inc., (formerly Corning Glass Works).

Contents

1 Products
2 History
3 Controversies
4 External links

Products

Product developed over the years include silicone sealant, adhesive, silicone mold-making rubber, lubricants, release agents for cookware, sound-absorbing silicone, leather treatment, skin care lotion, preceramic polymers for high temperature applications, and silicone waxes.

Many of Dow Corning silicone technologies help the electrical industry. Silicone Greases, High Voltage Insulator Coatings, Silicone Rubbers for polymeric insulators avoid flashovers in electrical insulator due to contamination. You can read more about this in the Dow Corning website and see some pictures at www.sylgard.blogspot.com where Project Sales Corp, a distributor for Dow Corning in India share their experince and expertise of application of these coatings.

History

In 1942 moisture in aircraft engines and corona formation made high-altitude flight all but impossible. Dr. Shailer Bass developed Dow Corning's first product, a simple silicone grease (Dow Corning #4 Compound) that solved the problem. Dow Corning was formally established in 1943 specifically to explore the potential of silicones. Dr. E.C. Sulllivan was named president and Dr. William R. Collings was named general manager in 1943. Dr. Collings latter became president from 1954 until 1962.

A large, majority owned subsidiary of Dow Corning Corporation is the Hemlock Semiconductor Corporation. Founded in the 1960's before the computer revolution, it is still one of the world's leading manufaturers of high-purity polycrystalline silicon which is sold in varying purity grades for use in both semiconductor silicon wafer manufacture and photovoltaics applications as solar cells.

Controversies

Throughout the 1980s and 1990s, consumer groups alleged that Dow Corning's silicone breast implants caused numerous health problems including breast cancer, auto immune diseases including lupus and rheumatoid arthritis, and various neurological problems. This led to numerous lawsuits beginning in 1984 and culminating in a 1998 class action settlement in which tens of thousands of plaintiffs accepted a $3.2 billion award. Dow Corning was in bankruptcy protection for nine years that ended in June 2004.

In 1999, however, an independent review of all previous research on the issue concluded that the implants, even when ruptured, caused no major health problems beyond local hardening or scarring of the breasts. The issue remains contentious, mostly because the aforementioned review could not address the scope of claims of injury due to ruptured implants, for example, the health impact on an unborn child.

References: Company website and The Human Spirit is a pioneering spirit, 1993, Dow Corning Corporation.

External links

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