Purista 'Fresh Finish' for Textiles Secures EPA Registration; Commercial Launch Underway in United States.

NORWALK, Conn. -- Purista(R), the consumer name for textile freshness-enhancing treatments from Arch Chemicals, Inc. (NYSE:ARJ), one of the largest and most comprehensive manufacturers of antimicrobials in the world, is capitalizing on its success in the United Kingdom and Southeast Asia by launching into the U.S. apparel and home textiles market.

Based on polyhexamethylenebiguanide hydrochloride (PHMB), Purista(R) treatments protect clothing and other textiles from odor-causing bacteria, providing a long lasting "fresh finish." Drawing on rigorous product safety and chemistry data, the U.S. EPA recently accepted a registration amendment to include the use of Purista(R) treatments on apparel and other textiles. The treatment product behind the Purista(R) brand is manufactured in the U.S. and United Kingdom (UK), and the business's marketing teams are located in Smryna, Georgia and Manchester, England.

Since first launching its freshness-enhancing finish in the UK, Purista(R) is now used by more than 30 retailers on items such as socks, suit linings, towels and linen. In many cases, these textile products feature a Purista(R) label that consumers have come to associate with cleanliness, purity and freshness. With its attractive aquamarine logo and design cues, Purista(R) can easily be incorporated into existing packaging as a co-brand.

Peter Cowey, International Business Manager of Arch's textile treatment business, comments, "The EPA acceptance opens a major growth opportunity for the Purista(R) brand in the sizable U.S. clothing and home textiles market. The Purista(R) treatment is very cost-efficient and offers consumers and textile suppliers real and useful performance advantages."

"While the EPA registration process was underway we continued to build the brand in the UK and across Europe, working with retailers such as GEORGE(TM), a clothing brand of Wal-Mart, the UK fashion retailer NEXT, Moss Bros and Tesco. Growing the business further in the U.S. apparel and home textiles market is a very exciting prospect for us."

Arch Scientist to Introduce Purista(R) at AATCC Conference

As part of Arch's U.S. textiles' program, Dr. John Payne, an Arch Business Research Associate, will be addressing the American Association of Textile Colorists and Chemists (AATCC) International Conference and Exhibition, Boston, on October 27th. He will be discussing aspects of the technology behind the Purista(R) brand such as performance standards, durability and the overall benefits of including antimicrobial treatments in textiles. He will also discuss how computational and analytical chemistry methods can explore binding of an active antimicrobial to fibers, and the impact of ionic versus covalent bonding of the antimicrobial agent on properties such as activity and durability.

According to Mr. Cowey, "The conference and exhibition should give Purista(R) an excellent introduction to key technical and commercial people in the U.S. textiles market and provide all attendees with the chance to learn more about our unique 'freshness enhancing' concept."

Headquartered in Norwalk, Connecticut, Arch Chemicals, Inc. is a global specialty chemicals company with approximately $1.3 billion in annual sales. Arch and its subsidiaries have market leadership positions in the Treatment and Performance Products business segments, where they serve leading customers with forward-looking solutions to meet their chemical needs. Together with its subsidiaries, Arch has approximately 3,000 employees and manufacturing and customer-support facilities in North and South America, Europe, Asia and Africa.