Dow Biocides Technical Center to Open During First Quarter 2006

Shanghai, China - November 16, 2005

Dow Biocides, a business unit of The Dow Chemical Company, announced that its first China-based development and testing center will open early in first quarter 2006. While ultimately part of the overall Dow Chemical R&D and Technical Center being built in Shanghai, the Dow Biocides laboratory will open one year ahead of completion of the corporate center.

"For years customers have depended on Dow as the leader in biocide solutions," said Mark Henning, general manager, Dow Biocides. "The China market is important to our business growth, and the Dow Biocides testing laboratory is a significant investment for our customers in the region providing access to technological expertise in local language and with a thorough understanding of local market issues."

With an extensive and continuously expanding portfolio of products that can solve almost any microbial challenge, Dow Biocides is the global leader in providing value-creating solutions to enable customer success. From application technology, challenge testing and regulatory compliance expertise to process chemistry and operations excellence, Dow Biocides can help make customers' operations more cost-effective and efficient.

To help customers contain biocide treatment costs while achieving the highest level of performance, Dow Biocides offers advanced formulation testing methodologies such as TAUNOVATE^SM high-throughput testing. TAUNOVATE testing provides a comprehensive evaluation of existing microbial challenges and current biocide performance, while offering valuable insight about how to optimize operations.

"In our new Shanghai technology center, we will provide customers with state-of-the-art technology to identify cost-effective biocide strategies and formulations," said Mark Saurin, global marketing manager for paints and coatings, Dow Biocides. "In a highly changing regulatory environment, customers can count on proprietary testing resources and highly-trained microbiologists from Dow Biocides to solve their unique microbial challenges."

The qualitative accuracy of TAUNOVATE testing capabilities enable Dow Biocides customers to test a variety of biocide options, including different concentrations of the existing biocide, other biocide products and even combinations of biocides.

For global biocides solutions in application technology, challenge testing, regulatory compliance, process chemistry and operations excellence, think Dow Biocides. Boasting the largest and most diverse product portfolio combined with a range of registrations unparalleled in the industry, Dow Biocides is committed to providing answers to just about every type of microbial challenge and system requirement across a wide range of markets around the world.

Dow is a leader in science and technology, providing innovative chemical, plastic and agricultural products and services to many essential consumer markets. With annual sales of $40 billion, Dow serves customers in 175 countries and a wide range of markets that are vital to human progress: food, transportation, health and medicine, personal and home care, and building and construction, among others. Committed to the principles of sustainable development, Dow and its 43,000 employees seek to balance economic, environmental and social responsibilities. References to "Dow" or the "Company" mean The Dow Chemical Company and its consolidated subsidiaries unless otherwise expressly noted.

More information on Dow Biocides is available on the Internet at www.dowbiocides.com

For Editorial Information:

Louise Falp
Dow Biocides
(847) 808-3771