Advanced Adhesives Help Consumer Goods Lighten Up.

PHILADELPHIA -- One of the best environmental measures of good product design is using less material in the first place. The refrigerators of the early 1920s were not only very heavy, their expansive dimensions often occupied more than one room. Featuring thick wood or steel cabinets with door latches bolted on, many relied on belt-driven compressors linked to noisy motors in basements or adjacent rooms. Today's attractive and compact refrigerators sit comfortably and quietly on just a few square feet of floor space, a size reduction that's very good for our planet.

That pertains to appliances, automobiles, and even mundane household products such as the vanity mirror in your bathroom with brass screws that hold it together and hold it up.

Thankfully, cutting-edge, environmentally advanced pressure-sensitive adhesives (PSAs) are replacing traditional mechanical fasteners to produce lighter, stronger, more durable consumer goods. And the innovative water-based PSAs marketed to manufacturers by specialty materials company Rohm and Haas (NYSE:ROH) are helping this happen.

In new homes today, these modern adhesives are found holding windows and ductwork together; they're even strong enough to secure a heavy mirror on a humid bathroom wall for years. Refrigerators, dishwashers, washing machines and other appliances also are assembled with PSAs, yielding goods that are far lighter and produce less greenhouse gas during transport. PSAs hold disk drives and many other electronic components together as well, helping to shrink computers to their present compact profiles from their room-sized predecessors. PSAs have replaced many mechanical fasteners in automobiles, too - in armrests, rearview mirrors, headliners and more - making cars that are much lighter and fuel efficient. Often, these PSAs last longer than other fastening methods, helping extend a product's useful life and further reduce waste streams.

Until recently, PSAs containing petroleum-derived solvents were recognized as stronger and longer lasting. However, Rohm and Haas, the world's leader in water-based adhesives, has invented high performance water-based PSAs that can replace solvent-based adhesives in many applications. Since waterborne PSAs contain no solvents, there are no solvent emissions, no expensive solvent recovery and disposal during manufacture, and low volatile organic compounds (VOCs) in finished products. Naturally, worker safety also is improved.

Rohm and Haas continues to make great strides in even better-performing pressure-sensitive adhesives, with the goal of making the impossible possible.

About Rohm and Haas Company

Leading the way since 1909, Rohm and Haas is a global pioneer in the creation and development of innovative technologies and solutions for the specialty materials industry. The company's technologies are found in a wide range of industries including: Building and Construction, Electronics and Electronic Devices, Household Goods and Personal Care, Packaging and Paper, Transportation, Pharmaceutical and Medical, Water, Food and Food Related, and Industrial Process. Innovative Rohm and Haas technologies and solutions help to improve life every day, around the world. Based in Philadelphia, PA, the company generated annual sales of approximately $8.9 billion in 2007. Visit www.rohmhaas.com for more information. imagine the possibilities[TM]