Report on chemicals from Dow Chemical

Whereas:

• Approximately half of Dow’s end-use pesticide products (73 of 149) may be
  linked to asthma and other respiratory problems through active or inert
  ingredients or metabolites. Common Dow pesticide products with ingredients
  linked to respiratory problems include: FulTime, Dursban, Glyphomax, Tordon,
  Telone, Starane, Dithane, Widematch and more.
  
• According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), 16 million
  people in the U.S. suffer from asthma. Since the mid-1980s, asthma rates have
  reached epidemic levels.
  
• CDC states that nearly 1 in 8 school-aged children have asthma, the leading cause
  of school absenteeism due to chronic illness. Children are more susceptible than
  adults to asthma; lungs do not fully develop until at least the eighth year after
  birth, making a child vulnerable to pesticides and other pollutants linked to
  asthma. The number of children dying from asthma increased almost threefold
  from 1979 to 1996. The estimated annual cost of treating childhood asthma is
  $3.2 billion.
  
• According to a 2004 study in Environmental Health Perspectives, pesticides are
  both a trigger and root cause of asthma. Researchers discovered that children
  exposed to herbicides are four and a half times more likely to be diagnosed with
  asthma before age five; toddlers exposed to insecticides are over two times more
  likely to get asthma.
  
• In addition to its retail and wholesale pesticide products, Dow produces many
  active ingredients in pesticides ultimately sold by other companies. For example,
  Dow is the sole US producer of 2,4-D, and one of the world’s largest producers of
  chlorpyrifos, both of which are linked to asthma.
  
• Data from CDC's 2005 National Report on Human Exposure to Environmental
  Chemicals found 76% of Americans have chlorpyrifos metabolites in their bodies.
  Children ages 6-11 have exposure at four times the level EPA considers
  acceptable for long-term exposure. Additionally, more than 25% of Americans
  have 2,4-D in their bodies, with highest concentrations also found in children ages
  6-11. Proponents believe that CDC's data may aid in correlation of exposures to
  disease, which could in turn increase legal liabilities for Dow.

RESOLVED: Shareholders request that the Board establish an independent panel,
controlling for conflict of interest, to publish by May 2007, at reasonable cost and
excluding proprietary information, a report analyzing the extent to which Dow products
may cause or exacerbate asthma, and describing public policy initiatives, and Dow
policies and activities, to phase out or restrict materials linked with such effects.

SUPPORTING STATEMENT: Proponents believe the report should include any and all
Dow products found in peer-reviewed literature to potentially cause and/or trigger
asthma, including end-use pesticides (and their inert ingredients and metabolites),
pesticide active ingredients and other chemicals.

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