New Tool Helps Manufacturers Gauge Sustainability

UL Environment, a business unit of UL (Underwriters Laboratories, Northbrook, IL), recently announced the launch of a free web-based tool that will help manufacturers assess their corporate sustainability efforts. Part of UL Environment’s Sustainability Quotient (SQ) Program, this tool provides manufacturers with a preliminary analysis of their sustainability initiatives relative to the requirements of the UL 880 standard. The tool also aggregates responses from all survey respondents and provides an overall benchmark of sustainability progress to date.

“Manufacturers are making great strides when it comes to their own sustainability programs, and this assessment tool will help them identify gaps in standards they are currently using,” said Gary Savin, vice president of UL Environment. “By using this tool, companies will be able to get a sense of their organization’s environmental, social and governance performance, ideally acting as incentive for further innovation.”

Based on the criteria in UL 880: Sustainability for Manufacturing Organizations (developed in conjunction with GreenBiz), the SQ Program’s assessment tool helps a manufacturer evaluate its sustainability profile based on key indicators, such as environmental purchasing policies, greenhouse gas reduction targets and sustainable supply chain code of conduct.

 

“The online assessment tool takes no more than 15 or 20 minutes to complete, and it generates an insightful, valuable and actionable report for companies looking to get started on—or continue on—their sustainability journey,” said Savin.

UL Environment’s SQ Program is a comprehensive system of assessing, rating and certifying the sustainability initiatives of corporations at an enterprise level. The program addresses enterprise sustainability through five domains: environment; governance for sustainability; workforce; customers and suppliers; community engagement and human rights.

For more information, visit www.sustainabilityquotient.com or www.ul.com/environment

“NUTRITION” Human Clinical Trial Begins

Carotech Inc. (Edison, NJ) has announced the commencement of a new human clinical trial—“NUTRITION,” which is the acronym for “Natural Tocotrienol Against Ischemic Stroke Event.”

This randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled, phase I and II human clinical trial is a collaborative study between the Government of Malaysia and Professor Chandan K. Sen, the lead researcher from The Ohio State University. NUTRITION will evaluate the effects of orally supplemented natural palm mixed tocotrienols (Carotech’s Tocomin SupraBio®) on platelet function and blood lipid profile including HDL, LDL and total cholesterol. With dyslipidemia and hypercoagulable states as established risk factors of stroke, this study aims to clarify the potential of patented and bioenhanced natural full spectrum palm tocotrienol complex to mitigate these important stroke risks.

“Natural palm mixed tocotrienol complex shows promising neuroprotective and hypocholesterolemic properties,” said Dr. Sharon Ling, vice president of scientific affairs at Carotech. “As such, it is potentially a useful agent for people at risk of ischemic stroke including patients with transient ischemic attack (TIA) or mini-stroke. These findings have set the stage for this large scale NUTRITION trial.”

The 210 volunteers will be recruited and divided into two groups—Healthy (Phase I) and Hyperlipidemic (Phase II). Volunteers meeting predefined inclusion and exclusion criteria will be randomized to receive placebo, 400 mg or 800 mg tocotrienols, low-dose 81 mg aspirin, or tocotrienols and aspirin together. Phase I subjects will receive six months of supplementation, undergo three times of blood test, monthly tape stripping and blood pressure measurements. On the other hand, Phase II subjects will be studied for 12 months with five times blood test plus monthly tape stripping and blood pressure measurements.

 

For the past decade, Professor Sen and his research team have been studying the effects of natural palm mixed tocotrienols (Tocomin® and Tocomin SupraBio) in neuroprotection and found convincing evidence. Funded by the NIH, the researchers have elucidated four major mechanisms in which tocotrienols protect brain cells from stroke-induced injuries or death. These include inhibition of c-Src and 12-Lox pathways, induction of a survival factor MRP-1 and improvement of blood supply to ischemic brain tissue via enhanced collateral flow.

A recently published human distribution study (Patel, V., 2012) proved that tocotrienols (Tocomin SupraBio) were orally absorbed and well distributed to various tissues and vital organs including brain, skin, adipose, heart and liver. Most importantly, alpha-tocotrienol was transported to human brain at a concentration reported to be neuroprotective.

“We have come a long way in researching the use of natural compound in neuroprotection, especially in stroke prevention. It started with Professor Sen’s NIH-funded studies more than 10 years ago that showed extremely low concentration of alpha-tocotrienol prevented glutamate-induced neuronal cell death,” said W.H. Leong, vice president of Carotech. “The NUTRITION human clinical trial is a significant step forward in the search for a prophylactic and therapeutic agent against stroke; especially one that does not cause severe adverse effect in human even after long term consumption. We look forward to the success of this clinical trial.”

For more information, visit http://clinicaltrials.gov/show/nct01579227

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