EPA Honors Engelhard for Design of Safer Chemicals.ISELIN, NJ -- Engelhard Corporation (NYSE NYSE See: New York Stock Exchange :EC) was honored Monday with a Presidential Green Chemistry Challenge Award from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), independent agency of the U.S. government, with headquarters in Washington, D.C. It was established in 1970 to reduce and control air and water pollution, noise pollution, and radiation and to ensure the safe handling and (EPA EPA eicosapentaenoic acid. EPA abbr. eicosapentaenoic acid EPA, n.pr See acid, eicosapentaenoic. EPA, n. ) at a ceremony held at the National Academy of Sciences in Washington, D.C. Engelhard was recognized for "the design of safer chemicals," specifically the company's Rightfit(R) organic pigments, which provide environmentally friendly, value-added color to packaging used in the food, beverage, petroleum product, detergent, and household and durable goods durable goods Goods, such as appliances and automobiles, that have a useful life over a number of periods. Firms that produce durable goods are often subject to wide fluctuations in sales and profits. Also called consumer durables. markets. Red, orange and yellow pigments historically were based on lead, chromium and cadmium until the EPA began to regulate the use of heavy metals heavy metals, n.pl metallic compounds, such as aluminum, arsenic, cadmium, lead, mercury, and nickel. Exposure to these metals has been linked to immune, kidney, and neurotic disorders. . Engelhard Rightfit pigments contain calcium, strontium strontium (strŏn`shēəm) [from Strontian, a Scottish town], a metallic chemical element; symbol Sr; at. no. 38; at. wt. 87.62; m.p. 769°C;; b.p. 1,384°C;; sp. gr. 2.6 at 20°C;; valence +2. , or sometimes barium instead of the heavy metals, thereby reducing risks to human health and the environment. Because of their low potential toxicity and very low migration, most Rightfit pigments have been approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA FDA abbr. Food and Drug Administration FDA, n.pr See Food and Drug Administration. FDA, n.pr the abbreviation for the Food and Drug Administration. ) and the Canadian Health Protection Branch (HPB HPB Health Promotion Board (Singapore) HPB Hrvatska Poštanska Banka (Croatian Post Bank) HPB Half Price Books (retail store) HPB High Ping Bastard ) for indirect food contact applications. It's also widely accepted that most color pigments over-perform for the application they're intended, so formulators sometimes had to pay a premium price for performance they didn't need. Rightfit pigments are specially designed to more closely match pigment attributes to end-use specifications, making them more cost-effective for formulators. "Engelhard is honored to be recognized by the EPA with this award," said Stephen D. Lux, group vice president and general manager of Engelhard's appearance and performance technologies. "Leveraging Engelhard's core competencies in surface and materials sciences enabled us to create a pigment technology that is environmentally safe and delivers cost-effective performance for our customers." The Presidential Green Chemistry Challenge Awards, administered by the EPA, have been presented annually since 1996 to recognize businesses and individuals who successfully research and develop innovative ways to significantly reduce pollution at its sources and use chemistry to improve the environment. Engelhard Corporation is a surface and materials science company that develops technologies to improve customers' products and processes. A Fortune 500 company, Engelhard is a world-leading provider of technologies for environmental, process, appearance and performance applications. For more information, visit Engelhard on the Internet at www.engelhard.com. |
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