TenCate Takes the Lead on Unleaded Turf

TenCate Announces It Has Discontinued the Use of Lead in Its
Artificial Turf Products Ahead of Voluntary Standards Called for by
the U.S. Consumer Products Safety Commission
ATLANTA--(Business Wire)--
Following earlier publicity around lead present in some artificial
turf, the U.S. Consumer Products Safety Commission (CPSC) released a
statement yesterday that all artificial turf is safe to play on. The
CPSC states that there is no health risk to young children playing on
synthetic fields and that parents should not be concerned about
harmful levels of lead in artificial turf. TenCate applauds the
statement by the CPSC. Earlier, TenCate released statements to the
same effect.

The CPSC based its statements on investigations of several fields,
new and old. While the exposure in all cases was below the critical
level of 15 microgram/day, the CPSC is calling for voluntary industry
standards to preclude the use of lead in future products. See the CPSC
statement at http://www.cpsc.gov/cpscpub/prerel/prhtml08/08348.html.

Ahead of this call by the U.S. CPSC, TenCate has taken the
initiative and completely discontinued the use of lead and other heavy
metals in the manufacture of its turf products.

For years, the vast majority of TenCate turf products have been
"heavy metal free", meaning that no lead or other heavy metals are
added at any stage of the production process. For a small volume of
products, lead chromate was used to make bright colored products with
excellent UV resistance.

With its initiative, TenCate warrants that all of its products
produced currently conform to the critical German LAGA norm for heavy
metal content and the DIN 18035-7 standard for leaching of heavy
metals.

TenCate is the leading supplier of artificial turf components to
major artificial turf companies around the world and with its
initiative strengthens an unparalleled tradition of leadership through
innovation.

The use of artificial turf increases the performance of athletes
and reduces the risk of injuries to the player. The installation of
TenCate artificial turf eliminates the use of harmful pesticides,
fertilizers, herbicides and fungicides. Artificial turf requires no
mowing, fertilizing, reseeding or watering.

About TenCate

TenCate is a multinational company which combines textile
technology and chemical processes in developing and manufacturing
specialist materials. Its materials can be divided into four areas of
application: safety & protection, space & aerospace, sport & leisure
and environment & infrastructure. The company has world leading
positions in protective fabrics, space and aerospace composites,
armour composites, geosynthetics and synthetic turf.

TenCate is listed on NYSE Euronext.

TenCate Grass North America
Guido Vliegen, +1-770-306-4277 or +1-770-317-8170 (cell)
Vice President Marketing & Sales
g.vliegen@tencate.com
www.tencate.com

Copyright Business Wire 2008