Scots' Alternative to Gender-Bender Chemical

Online, October 29, 2010 (Newswire.com) - A SCOTTISH company has discovered a green alternative to a "gender-bending" chemical that is used to line drinks cans to stop them rusting.

Verdex - which is based within the Edinburgh Science Triangle at Roslin BioCentre in Midlothian - makes Verdanol TIW, a bio-based product that is an alternative to Bisphenol A (BPA) which is used to make epoxy resins in food packaging.

Canada has already banned the sale of BPA which, in large quantities, has been shown to interfere with the release of sex hormones.

Studies have also linked the chemical - which mimics estrogen, the hormone produced by women - to a slower libido, impotence and DNA damage in sperm.

The most recent study on BPA analysed the sperm of over 500 factory workers in China exposed to it over a five-year period. It showed that the men, whose urine contained higher BPA levels, had more than three times the risk of lowered sperm concentration and vitality, more than four times the risk of a lower sperm count and more than double the risk of lower sperm motility- their ability to move properly towards an egg.

Verdanol TIW can replace BPA epoxides in all its major applications including print, coatings and adhesives. It is also improves performance and is more cost effective.

Verdex - whose products are plant-based crude oil replacements - prides itself on its green credentials.

Bill Rustrick, Verdex director, says: "Our Verdanol brands, in particular our new Verdanol TIW can replace BPA epoxides in all its major applications including print, coatings and adhesives.

It also improves performance and is more cost effective than traditional fossil-derived chemistries"

ENDS

For further information contact:

Greg Russell,

Edinburgh Science Triangle

T: 0131 200 6386

M: 07889 404933

E: [email protected]

Bill Rustrick,

Verdex Ltd

T: 0131 200 6350

E: [email protected]