Bromine
A heavy liquid halogen drawn from brines and the Dead Sea, used mainly in flame retardants and oil-well drilling fluids.
Industrial minerals · No. 62
- Not on a critical list
Bromine is pumped, not mined: the Dead Sea holds an estimated 1 billion tons, and Israel and Jordan draw on it.
Chart: Illustration: Bromine
Where it comes from
Chart: Map of where it comes from
Bromine is dissolved, not mined. Producers pump brine from salt lakes or deep formations, such as those under southern Arkansas, oxidise it with chlorine and steam-strip the bromine.
Three things to know
- Dow Chemical, founded in 1897, began by extracting bromine from Michigan brines more cheaply than its German rivals.
- Elemental bromine is toxic and corrosive, so it moves in lined containers, and only about $280 million of it was exported in 2024.
- Seawater holds about 65 ppm bromine, an estimated 100 trillion tons in all, so a reserve life is meaningless.
The journey
- 1 BrineUnderground brine, Dead Sea or seawater
- 2 OxidationChlorine oxidises the dissolved bromide
- 3 StrippingSteam-stripped, condensed to liquid bromine
- 4 CompoundsFlame retardants, calcium and zinc bromide
- 5 End usesPlastics, electronics, drilling fluids, water treatment