SAN FRANCISCO, Aug. 27, 2015 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Hybrid Coating Technologies Inc. (OTCBB:HCTI) is pleased to announce that it has appointed Mary Cushmac to its board of advisors. Ms. Cushmac who retired from the US EPA in 2011 spent most of her career focusing on the dangers of isocyanates in the polyurethane industry and was in charge of numerous efforts to limit the use of isocyanates with the eventual goal of an outright ban (see full bio below). “We are very happy to add Ms. Cushmac to our board of advisors,” said Joseph Kristul, President and CEO, “Her track record against isocyanates in the polyurethane industry and extensive experience, brings great expertise to our team and speaks volumes as to the true potential of our award winning technology.”
Hybrid’s patented award winning technology is the only formulation in the world today that produces polyurethane without the use of any isocyanates in the entire production process.
About Mary Cushmac
Mary Cushmac has more than 30 years experience at the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency in the Design for the Environment (DfE) and the New Chemicals programs in the Office of Pollution Prevention and Toxics. From 1997 until her retirement in 2011, she worked in partnership with the collision repair industry and career/technical schools to develop and promote best practices to reduce exposure to isocyanates during spray painting and related operations. Isocyanates – key chemicals in automotive and industrial coatings – are reported to be the leading cause of occupational asthma.
Ms. Cushmac played a major role in establishing and leading the Federal Spray Polyurethane Foam Workgroup with participation by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH), the Agency for Toxic Substances Disease Registry (ATSDR) and the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC). This work group initiated dialog with the Spray Polyurethane Foam Alliance (SPFA), the American Chemistry Council (ACC) Center for Polyurethanes Industry (CPI), and the polyurethane foam industry to promote health and safety best practices that reduce isocyanate exposures in spray polyurethane foam applications.
Ms. Cushmac was also a member of the advisory panel created to advise the North Carolina Division of Public Health and ATSDR on local communications issues related to the 2007-2010 public health study regarding isocyanate (TDI) emissions from a polyurethane plant in North Carolina.
Ms. Cushmac joined the EPA in 1980, serving as the New Chemicals Pre-notice Coordinator and later as a section chief. She chaired the work group that developed the TSCA Pre-manufacture Notification Rule Amendments published in 1995, and co-chaired the New Chemicals Program’s Environmental Technology Initiative that developed the 1994 Automotive Refinishing Industry Isocyanate Profile, which outlines health and safety information on isocyanates and recommends engineering controls and protective equipment to reduce inhalation and dermal exposures.
Ms. Cushmac co-authored a discussion of the hazards associated with isocyanate exposures, best workplace practices, and safer alternatives in a section of the Handbook of Green Chemistry, Green Processes, Designing Safer Chemicals, published in 2014.
Prior to joining the EPA, Ms. Cushmac worked as a research chemist in food chemistry at the U.S. Food and Drug Administration and published several articles on analytical methods for detecting toxins in food.
Ms. Cushmac received her undergraduate degree in chemistry at Trinity College in Washington, D.C. and a Master’s degree in organic chemistry at the Catholic University of America in Washington, D.C. She is a member of the American Chemical Society.
CAUTIONARY DISCLOSURE ABOUT FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS
This release contains “forward-looking statements” within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and Section 21E the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended and such forward-looking statements are made pursuant to the safe harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Statements in this news release other than statements of historical fact are “forward-looking statements” that are based on current expectations and assumptions. Forward-looking statements involve risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those expressed or implied by the statements, including, but not limited to, the following: the ability of Hybrid Coating Technologies Inc. to provide for its obligations, to provide working capital needs from operating revenues, to obtain additional financing needed for any future acquisitions, to meet competitive challenges and technological changes, and other risks. Hybrid Coating Technologies Inc undertakes no duty to update any forward-looking statement(s) and/or to confirm the statement(s) to actual results or changes in Hybrid Coating Technologies Inc. expectations.
About Hybrid Coating Technologies
Hybrid Coating Technologies (HCT) is a San Francisco-based innovator focused on improving the quality and safety of foams, coatings, and adhesives for industrial and commercial customers around the world. We are the exclusive licensee of Green Polyurethane™ foam, coatings, and adhesives – the world’s first-ever patent protected polyurethane-based foam, coatings, and adhesive products that eliminate toxic isocyanates from the entire production process (licensed by Nanotech Industries, Inc.) and the 2015 recipient of the Presidential Green Chemistry Award.
The Problem of Conventional Foams/Coatings/Paint and Isocyanates
Conventional polyurethane (PU) paint and coatings have many disadvantages: they are porous, permeable and maintain poor hydrolytic stability. This makes the material highly vulnerable to environmental degradation and ultimately leads to their chemical decomposition, especially when in contact with water. Conventional PU foams such as spray foam insulation are applied via a spraying mechanism that sends toxic isocyanates in the air – exposing workers to the dangers of toxic isocyanates. Strict and costly health & safety measures have to be implemented in the manufacture and application of conventional polyurethane due to the toxicity of isocyanates. This is why regulatory bodies around the world are now looking toward phasing out the use of isocyanates.
The Green Polyurethane™ Solution
Green Polyurethane™ (also referred to as “HNIPU” – hybrid non-isocyanate polyurethane) is a “hybrid” material that combines the high chemical resistance properties of epoxy and advanced durability and wear resistance properties of polyurethane, making it the perfect coating application for sanitary, high traffic and corrosive surface areas. As a hybrid material with superior properties, Green Polyurethane ™ can be applied in one or two coatings, providing a welcome cost-saving substitute to currently used multi-layered coating applications. Its safety features allow it to be applied without the interruption of business due to public exposure, creating an additional 30-60% savings on application costs for customers. As a foam, Green Polyurethane™ provides high R values up to 6.0, energy savings up to 30% and improved tensile strength over conventional foam without using dangerous isocyanates.
Recent Anti-Isocyanate Regulatory Pressure
US EPA MDI Action Plan: The US EPA (Environmental Protection Agency) is taking progressive action to regulate and potentially ban isocyanates and has mentioned Hybrid’s technology as an alternative to toxic polyurethane in its MDI Action Plan against isocyanates (see page 4 Figovsky and Shapovalov)
http://www.epa.gov/oppt/existingchemicals/pubs/actionplans/mdi.pdf
OSHA National Emphasis Program: On June 25, 2013 the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), a division of the US Department of Labor, initiated a National Emphasis Program to protect workers from the serious health effects from occupational exposure to isocyanates. Isocyanates are found in polyurethane based products. According to OSHA, “Workers exposed to isocyanates can suffer debilitating health problems for months or even years after exposure which could result in death.”
California’s Department of Toxic Substances Control (DTSC) on March 13, 2014 selected isocyanates and two others substances from a list of 1,100 toxic components that it will focus on with the goal of potentially banning them altogether within the next two years. The announcement is part of a bigger effort to educate consumers and manufacturers about product safety under the Green-Chemistry Law, which went into effect in California last year. Under the law, the agency has jurisdiction to ban these products altogether after following proper protocol. That process includes workshops, a public comment period and requiring manufacturers that want to sell these products in California to determine whether it would be feasible to use safer ingredients
The US EPA on January 8, 2015 announced that it was taking action to protect consumers from new uses and imports of harmful isocyanates in polyurethane. The EPA’s proposed action, a Significant New Use Rule (SNUR) under the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA), would require manufacturers (including importers) to notify the EPA at least 90 days before starting or resuming new uses of isocyanates in polyurethane based consumer products. The EPA would then have the opportunity to evaluate the intended use of and if necessary, to take action to prohibit or limit all products containing over one tenth of one percent of the chemical including imported products that make their way into the United States.
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