 Discovery Information
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| Who: Antoine J. Balard |
| When: 1826 |
| Where: France |
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| Name Origin
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| Greek: bromos (stench). |
| "Bromine" in different languages. |
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| Sources
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| Occurs in compounds in sea water. World wide production is around 330 thousand tons per year. Main producers are the USA, Israel, the UK, Russia, France and Japan.
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| Abundance
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| Universe: 0.007 ppm (by weight) |
| Carbonaceous meteorite: 1.2 ppm |
| Earth's Crust: 3 ppm |
| Seawater: 67.3 ppm |
| Human: |
| 2900 ppb by weight |
| 230 ppb by atoms |
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| Uses
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| Used for water purification (swimming pools), manufacture of ethylene dibromide (C2H4Br2)(anti-knocking gasoline), bleaching, organic synthesis, solvent, analytical reagent, fire retardant for plastics, pharmaceuticals, shrink-proofing wool.
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| Bromine is used to make brominated vegetable oil, which is used as an emulsifier in many citrus-flavoured soft drinks. |
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| History
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| Bromine was discovered by Antoine Balard at the salt marshes of Montpellier in 1826, but was not produced in quantity until 1860. The French chemist and physicist
Joseph-Louis Gay-Lussac suggested the name bromine due to the characteristic smell of the vapours.
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| Notes
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| Bromine is highly reactive and is a powerful oxidizing agent in the presence of water. It reacts vigorously with amines, alkenes
and phenols as well as aliphatic and aromatic hydrocarbons, ketones and acids (these are brominated by either addition or
substitution reactions). With many of the metals and elements, anhydrous bromine is less reactive than hydrated bromine; however,
dry bromine reacts vigorously with aluminium, titanium, mercury as well as alkaline earth metals and alkali metals.
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| Because of its high cost, bromine is usually recycled rather than disposed of into the environment. |
| About 500 million kilograms of bromine are produced each year worldwide, with the USA and Israel being the main producers.
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| Hazards
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| May be fatal if inhaled, highly toxic b inhalation, ingestion or skin contact. |
| Elemental bromine is a strong irritant and, in concentrated form, will produce painful blisters on exposed skin and especially
mucous membranes. Even low concentrations of bromine vapour (from 10 ppm) can affect breathing, and inhalation of significant
amounts of bromine can seriously damage the respiratory system.
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