Hybrid Coating Technologies Inc. announced that it has appointed Mary Cushmac to its board of advisors. Ms. Cushmac who retired from the US EPA in 2011 spent most of her career focusing on the dangers of isocyanates in the polyurethane industry and was in charge of numerous efforts to limit the use of isocyanates with the eventual goal of an outright ban. Mary Cushmac has more than 30 years experience at the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency in the Design for the Environment (DfE) and the New Chemicals programs in the Office of Pollution Prevention and Toxics.

From 1997 until her retirement in 2011, she worked in partnership with the collision repair industry and career/technical schools to develop and promote best practices to reduce exposure to isocyanates during spray painting and related operations. Isocyanates – key chemicals in automotive and industrial coatings – are reported to be the leading cause of occupational asthma. Ms. Cushmac played a major role in establishing and leading the Federal Spray Polyurethane Foam Workgroup with participation by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH), the Agency for Toxic Substances Disease Registry (ATSDR) and the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC).

This work group initiated dialog with the Spray Polyurethane Foam Alliance (SPFA), the American Chemistry Council (ACC) Center for Polyurethanes Industry (CPI), and the polyurethane foam industry to promote health and safety best practices that reduce isocyanate exposures in spray polyurethane foam applications. Ms. Cushmac was also a member of the advisory panel created to advise the North Carolina Division of Public Health and ATSDR on local communications issues related to the 2007-2010 public health study regarding isocyanate (TDI) emissions from a polyurethane plant in North Carolina.