U.S. House Advances Two Bills Supporting Environmentally Friendly Fire Retardants for Military Use


PERTH, AUSTRALIA and GREER, SC--(Marketwired - May 19, 2016) -  Alexium International Group Limited (ASX: AJX) (OTCQX: AXXIY)

Highlights:

  • Defense Authorization Act, Appropriations Bill direct service branches to explore next generation FR uniforms.
  • Legislation consistent with growing trend to ban or restrict outdated FR compounds that have been deemed unsafe.

Alexium International Group Limited ("Alexium," "the Company") (ASX: AJX) (OTCQX: AXXIY) Late yesterday evening, the U.S. House of Representatives passed the National Defense Authorization Act of 2017 with a report directing the Army, Navy, Air Force and Marine Corps to explore environmentally friendly flame retardant (FR) uniforms for all military personnel and "provide a joint briefing to the House Committee on Armed Services by August, 2016." (The full language can be found on page 134 of the report.)

The legislation follows similar legislation approved Tuesday by the House Appropriations Committee. Language in the report accompanying the Department of Defense Appropriations Bill, 2017, directs the Secretary of Defense to explore the use of environmentally friendly flame retardants in military uniforms. (The language can be found on page 59 of the report.)

"We are encouraged by the votes to advance these two critical pieces of legislation," said Nicholas Clark, CEO, Alexium, "We continue to have success educating the public, manufacturers and policy makers about the existence of environmentally friendly flame retardants for various applications, and are glad to see that our efforts are bringing results within the defense sector, which is typically at the leading edge of technological innovation."

"The legislation being considered is consistent with U.S. and international trends to ban or restrict certain flame retardants that are outdated and unsafe," said Dirk Van Hyning, President, Alexium, "Fortunately, there are new environmentally friendly solutions for protecting the military and civilians."

About Alexium
Alexium International Group Limited (ASX: AJX) (OTCQX: AXXIY) holds proprietary patent applications for a process developed initially by the U.S. Department of Defense, which allows for the surface modification and attachment of nano-particles or multiple chemical functional groups to surfaces or substrates to provide functions such as fire retardancy, water proofing, oil proofing, and anti-microbial treatments. Applications under development include but are not limited to textiles, paints, and packaging, glass and building materials. Alexium's fire retardant chemical treatments are currently marketed for different fabric markets under the Alexiflam™, Ascalon™, Nycolon™, Nuvalon™, and Polytron™, Omnitron™ and Bactron™ trademarks. For additional information about Alexium, please visit www.alexiuminternational.com.

U.S. Corporate Offices:
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Contact Information:

U.S. Contacts:
Nicholas (Nick) Clark
Chief Executive Officer
nclark@alexiuminternational.com

Melissa P. Kelly
Vice President, Corporate Communications
mkelly@alexiuminternational.com
U.S.: +1 864.603.1165 x303