Ceryx Announces Launch of New Product.

Business Editors/Transportation & Environment Writers

SANTA PAULA, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Oct. 9, 2000

Ceryx Inc., a Santa Paula-based designer, developer and manufacturer of emissions- control systems for diesel engines, has announced the launch of a new product in its family of catalytic converters with the introduction this week of the ZetaCAT(TM) catalytic converter, a system designed to deliver exceptional particulate-matter control.

Jeff Redoutey, vice president for sales and marketing, stated, "We believe the ZetaCAT(TM) will fill a special need in the emissions- control market and improve our product line by providing customers with a broader range of systems and pricing choices."

The company's flagship product, the QuadCAT(TM) catalytic converter, has set the company apart from competitors, as it is currently the only emissions-control system known to achieve significant simultaneous reductions of four major sources of air pollution.

The ZetaCAT(TM) differs from the QuadCAT(TM) in that it was designed to specifically target a market whose needs are to reduce particulate-matter emissions only.

Particulate matter, or soot, is an air contaminant widely acknowledged to play a major role in air pollution worldwide. Company officials say that since the ZetaCAT(TM) is a less complex system than the QuadCAT(TM), it will provide customers with the means to reduce that particular pollutant at lower cost.

This is of special significance because the California Air Resources Board has identified exhaust from diesel-fueled engines as a toxic air contaminant responsible for 70 percent of the cancer risk associated with breathing the state's air. Particulate matter is the principal contributor to that risk.

Recently, CARB mandated stringent new controls designed to compel operators to dramatically reduce polluting emissions. Just last week, CARB adopted regulations which will require that new trucks, construction rigs and most everything else in California powered by diesel run virtually soot-free beginning in 2007. Owners of existing models will be required to retrofit their equipment with soot traps.

Dr. Dorriah Page, the company's president and chief executive officer, noted: "We're especially proud of the QuadCAT(TM) and its ability to positively impact four primary air pollutants, but it was necessary that we also meet the needs of those users whose requirements center on reducing only particulate matter, particularly since that's an area of special focus in CARB's efforts to improve California's air quality. The ZetaCAT(TM) will give customers the ability to quickly comply with CARB's new controls at a reduced cost."

Page added, "The ZetaCAT(TM) enables us to provide a cost-competitive alternative to systems incorporating passive particulate control technology by offering the significant advantage of active regeneration."

Ceryx is a privately held company founded in 1997. Its product line, for which it holds several patents, includes pollution-control devices for both the stationary and mobile market. The company has headquarters in Santa Paula.