E.I. du Pont de Nemours & Company’s R. & H. Chemicals Department manufactured and sold peroxides, cyanide of sodium, formaldehyde, trychloretheline, tin oxide, and polyvinyl alcohol. The department was formed in 1933 as a result of the 1930 acquisition of the Roessler & Hasslacher Chemical Company, which operated a plant in Niagara Falls, New York.

Roessler & Hasslacher formed in 1885 as a precious metals business that later developed into a specialized producer of chlorine products, hydrogen peroxide, and metal cyanides. In the 1920s, the company began experimenting with using cyanide as a means to prevent the growth of bacteria and fungi on trees. It naturally transitioned to experimenting with and producing insecticides and pesticides for the farming and agricultural industries.

In 1925, Roessler & Hasslacher merged with the Niagara Electro-Chemical Company, a producer of metallic sodium. In 1930, DuPont Co. purchased Roessler & Hasslacher’s assets, which provided DuPont with access to numerous specialized chemicals such as sodium cyanide used in electroplating, methyl chloride for refrigerants, hydrogen peroxide for oxidizing and bleaching, formaldehyde for plastic and disinfectants, dry-cleaning agents, fumigants, insecticides, and ceramic colors. DuPont subsequently established a Pacific Division for its R. & H. Chemicals Department, which began conducting agricultural pest control experiments in California in the 1930s. In 1942, the R. &. H. Chemicals Department became known as the Electrochemicals Department and, in 1971, it was transferred to the Industrial Chemicals Department.