Asian Nations Driving Innovation in Nanofiltration to Address Impending Water Crisis

COLUMBUS, Ohio, December 9, 2010 - Water scarcity is driving a wave of innovation in water filtration
technology from Asian nations, according to a report issued today by Chemical
Abstracts Service (CAS), the world's authority for chemical information. The
report, CAS Chemistry Research Report: Nanofiltration Shows Promise in the
Quest for Pure Water, found that Asian researchers now lead the world in
patent activity related to nanofiltration, the most-researched method of
water filtration.

According to the Asian Development Bank, Asian nations will face a 40
percent deficit between water supply and demand by 2030. Today's report finds
that in the quest to counter water scarcity, Asian researchers have issued 60
percent of all nanofiltration patents over the last 20 years, with China
issuing 33 percent of all patents, followed by Japan and Korea, issuing 16
and 10 percent, respectively. Meanwhile, the United States led in the
publication of scholarly research on nanofiltration, issuing 25 percent of
all research journal literature between 1990 and 2009.

"Asian populations are growing exponentially faster than those of other
countries making water shortages a looming issue," said Christine McCue, vice
president of marketing at CAS. "The CAS databases suggest that Asian
researchers are focused intensively on mitigating this threat as they take a
leadership position in the research and commercialization of nanofiltration
technology, surpassing the U.S. and Western science output."

Nanofiltration purifies water by forcing it through an ultra-fine
membrane to remove contaminants such as salt, oil, pesticides and mercury.
Nanofiltration systems are generally smaller and operate at lower pressures
than reverse osmosis, making them more cost-effective and environmentally
friendly.

"Nanofiltration leads to a considerable reduction in waste discharge,
less energy consumption and improved raw materials utilization in our
plants," said Gerrald Bargeman, team leader of separation technology at
AkzoNobel, which published more nanofiltration-related patent publications
with the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) than any other
organization, according to the report.

To access the full report, visit
www.cas.org/newsevents/pressroom/report.html.

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About CAS Chemistry Research Reports

The CAS Chemistry Research Report series examines global trends in
journal and patent publications to identify categories of scientific research
presenting promise for today's global challenges as well as geographic shifts
in scientific research and commercialization. The reports are developed by
CAS scientists, who analyze more than a century of data represented in CAS
databases, the largest and most authoritative databases of scientific
information. These databases include the world's most comprehensive
collection of disclosed chemical substance information, containing more than
56 million unique organic and inorganic substances and more than 33 million
patent and journal article references in all areas of organic,
macromolecular, applied, physical, inorganic and analytical chemistry, as
well as biochemistry.

Bob Sadowski, +1-614-447-3661, cas-pr at cas.org