Bromine Specialties Technologies Positively Affect the Fight Against COVID-19

Our bromine products play a leading role in supporting fire safety, oilfield drilling, pharmaceutical manufacturing, PET production, high-tech cleaning, water treatment and food safety for a rapidly growing world. Without Bromine, the world as we know it would not be the same.

We are committed to creating a better tomorrow for the world we live in, and are dedicated to providing a safer environment and better quality of life for all.

With the challenges of COVID-19, we want to share more about the bromine products we manufacture and the end-use products that are being used to fight the virus. While the incremental financial impact to our profitability is limited, the impact for our communities is significant.

As you probably know, COVID-19 in particular severely attacks the lungs and respiratory system. For this reason, ventilators are a must-have to save lives. With cases increasing globally, and a high hospitalization rate from COVID-19, ventilators have quickly become a bottleneck for the medical industry. With a shortage of ventilators, production has ramped up quickly with automakers changing their production lines to help.

You might ask, “How are Albemarle’s bromine products used in these life-saving products?” Here is a simple explanation:

The majority of ventilators are not pneumatic and therefore require electricity and connections to computers. These electrical devices must abide by flame retardant standards for electrical equipment, and our brominated flame retardants are key to help meet these standards. This includes the electrical and computer connections, which use Saytex® 3010 and 7010, along with the electrical wires, which use Saytex 8010, as well as the enclosures that house the electrical components, which can use Saytex CP-2000.

Our Hydrobromic Acid (HBr) product is used as a catalyst in the manufacturing of Polyethylene terephthalate (PET), which is used in protective clothing in hospitals. This PPE is also critical in saving lives by preventing the spread of germs.

In addition to our brominated products, we also produce ADMA (alkyldimethylamine) at our plant in Magnolia, Arkansas. This product is used in household cleaning products that are effective at killing germs and viruses on hard surfaces in bathrooms, kitchens and more. Many of our ADMA customers are on the US Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) list of disinfectants used to fight COVID-19!