Midland, MI - May 23, 2005

The Chlorine Chemistry Council (of which Dow is a member) recently launched a new highly interactive, web-based tool to better communicate the benefits of chlorine chemistry and to demystify its science. The Chlorine Tree uses photographs, videos, animation, sound and text to demonstrate how – from basic salt – chlorine and caustic soda end-products make modern life possible.

Visitors to www.chlorinetree.org explore eight beneficial use categories – nutrition, shelter, health and well-being, transportation, safety and security, communication, lifestyle and innovation and industry – to discover how their lives are enhanced through chlorine chemistry. Users are just a click away from learning the details of individual products, watching a narrated video, or printing out a "take away" summary of chlorine chemistry’s role in a particular beneficial use category. The Chlorine Tree currently features more than 300 chlorine products and 60 products made with caustic soda – with future development plans to expand to a total of 750.

"In a typical day, chlorine chemistry enhances our lives in hundreds of ways, but because it is largely an industrial commodity, chlorine is usually invisible to the public," says Mike Gambrell, Senior Vice President, Chemicals and Intermediates, and Chairman of the Board of Directors for the Chlorine Chemistry Council. "Many consumer and industrial products do not contain chlorine, but still rely on chlorine chemistry in order to be made. This learning tool will help illustrate the great value chlorine chemistry provides to society."

For Editorial Information:

Birgit Lacey
Dow Chemical Canada Inc.
(519) 339-5011