▁ 1 8 2 5 ) ▁and ▁Antoine ▁J ér ôme ▁Bal ard ▁( in ▁ 1 8 2 6 ), ▁its ▁name ▁was ▁derived ▁from ▁the ▁An cient ▁Greek ▁ β ρ ῶ μ ος ▁(" sten ch "), ▁referencing ▁its ▁sharp ▁and ▁disag ree able ▁sm ell . ▁ ▁Element al ▁b rom ine ▁is ▁very ▁re active ▁and ▁thus ▁does ▁not ▁occur ▁free ▁in ▁nature , ▁but ▁in ▁colour less ▁sol ub le ▁cry st all ine ▁min eral ▁hal ide ▁sal ts , ▁analog ous ▁to ▁table ▁salt . ▁While ▁it ▁is ▁rather ▁rare ▁in ▁the ▁Earth ' s ▁cr ust , ▁the ▁high ▁sol ub ility ▁of ▁the ▁b rom ide ▁ion ▁( Br − ) ▁has ▁caused ▁its ▁accum ulation ▁in ▁the ▁o ce ans . ▁Com mer cially ▁the ▁element ▁is ▁easily ▁extracted ▁from ▁br ine ▁po ols , ▁mostly ▁in ▁the ▁United ▁States , ▁Israel ▁and ▁China . ▁The ▁mass ▁of ▁b rom ine ▁in ▁the ▁o ce ans ▁is ▁about ▁one ▁three - h undred th ▁that ▁of ▁ch lor ine . ▁ ▁At ▁high ▁temper atures , ▁organ ob rom ine ▁comp ounds ▁readily ▁dis soci ate ▁to ▁yield ▁free ▁b rom ine ▁atoms , ▁a ▁process ▁that ▁stops ▁free ▁radical ▁chemical ▁chain ▁re actions . ▁This ▁effect ▁makes ▁organ ob rom ine ▁comp ounds ▁useful ▁as ▁fire ▁ret ard ants , ▁and ▁more ▁than ▁half ▁the ▁b rom ine ▁produced ▁world wide ▁each ▁year ▁is ▁put ▁to ▁this ▁purpose . ▁The ▁same