Not all chemicals are a naturalist's nightmare. Croda International gets most of its sales from its industrial specialties segment, primarily from oleochemicals (chemicals that are derived from natural oils). Other products made by that segment include polymer additives, coatings, and automotive and industrial lubricants. Its other segment is consumer care and includes products for the personal care, health care, and agricultural industries. For example, wool grease (more commonly known as lanolin) and its derivatives are used in nearly every cosmetic from lipstick to moisturizers as well as in medical care treatment products.

Honeywell Specialty Materials, based in Morristown, N.J., is a global leader in providing customers with high-performance specialty materials, including fluorine products; specialty films and additives; advanced fibers and composites; intermediates; specialty chemicals; electronic materials and chemicals; and technologies and materials for petroleum refining. With research and development facilities around the world, including labs in Germany, New York, California and Shanghai, Honeywell Specialty Materials is on the cutting edge in several sectors of the chemical and high-performance materials industry.At Honeywell Specialty Materials, we view Responsible Care® as the foundation of environmental, health and safety excellence in our business. We incorporate health, safety and environment (HSE) management systems into all phases of the chemical life cycle. Our commitment to continuous HSE performance improvement is evident at our facilities around the world – it is the way we do business. Honeywell Specialty Materials employs approximately 10,000 people at more than 80 manufacturing and sales facilities worldwide.

Buckman Laboratories International defends the world against tiny invaders. The global specialty chemicals manufacturer originated as a producer of chemicals that control the growth of microorganisms such as mold and fungi. Today the company's more than 1,000 products are key to aqueous industrial processes used in manufacturing and treating pulp and paper, leather, paint, coatings, plastics, and wood. They include chemical intermediates, coagulants, corrosion inhibitors, defoamers, dispersants, flocculants, microbicides, polymers, and scale inhibitors. The family of founder Stanley Buckman owns the company through Bulab Holdings.

Ribelin Sales distributes additives, containers, extenders, fillers, inks, and pigments to markets that include the adhesives and sealants, construction and building materials, paints, cosmetics, plastics, printing, and textiles industries. It distributes products made by various divisions of chemical giants like 3M, Ashland, BASF, and Rockwood Specialties. The company, which serves much of the Southeast and Southwest, has distribution centers in Texas, Florida, Alabama, and Arizona. Investment group KODA Enterprises owns Ribelin, having acquired it in 2006.

Got a leak in your roof, deck, wall, floor, bathroom, or just about anywhere else? Tremco's bound to have a product that can help you out. The company, a subsidiary of RPM International, manufactures and sells roofing materials and services, as well as industrial coatings and sealants. Its operating divisions include Tremco Roofing & Building Maintenance, Sealants/Weatherproofing, Tremco Europe, and Euclid Chemical (concrete and masonry products). Tremco operates two manufacturing facilities in North America (one in Ohio and one in Ontario). Among the company's other subsidiaries are the German Illbruck Sealant Systems and Canadian waterproofing materials and sealants supplier Permaquik.

Occidental Chemical (OxyChem) manufactures basic chemicals, vinyls, and performance chemicals. The company is the top US maker of chlorine and caustic soda (used in bleach, plastics, and pulp and paper) and the top producer of potassium hydroxide, or caustic potash (used in fertilizers). Through subsidiary OxyVinyls it's the leading North American maker of vinyl chloride monomer (VCM), which is used to make PVC resins. The company operates some 22 plants throughout the US as well as another three in Brazil, Canada, and Chile. (OxyChem owns 50% of the Brazilian plant.)

Keeping things clean is all in a days work for Quadralene. The company distributes industrial cleaning chemicals, automotive cleaning products, and janitorial supplies throughout the UK. Brands include Quadramotive (cleaning materials for the automotive industry), Quadratech (cleaning products for laboratories and technical workspaces), and Quadrasafe (cleaning products for the food production and transportation industry). Its high-pressure cleaning products for vehicle preparation are made under the brand Quadramax. Quadralene also manufactures products tailored to individual customers' needs.

Taiyo Nippon Sanso Corporation is a diversified company that makes industrial gases, constructs air separation plants, manufactures gas-handling equipment (including welding tools and high-purity systems for semiconductor production), and house wares. The company markets its products to the food and beverage, shipbuilding, aerospace, chemical, and steel industries. The gas business makes up about two-thirds of its sales with the plant and gas equipment unit accounting for most of the rest. Taiyo Nippon Sanso also maintains the Thermos brand of vacuum bottles and insulated mugs throughout Asia. Subsidiary Matheson Tri-Gas operates in North America, Asia, and Europe.

McCombs Enterprises auto group sells new cars from Ford, GMC, Hyundai, Scion, and Toyota at about a dozen dealerships in and around San Antonio, Texas. McCombs Enterprises also rolls out a long roster of used car brands. Octogenarian-owner Red McCombs' other business interests include radio giant Clear Channel Communications, which he co-founded, Austin's Emergent Technologies, and real estate. He is a former owner of the Minnesota Vikings and the San Antonio Spurs. In 2000 Red McCombs pledged $50 million to the Red McCombs School of Business at the University of Texas at Austin. McCombs founded his namesake company in 1958.

Hoping to cushion its parent companies' rides through a bumpy economy, Americas Styrenics combines the styrene operations of Dow Chemical and Chevron Phillips Chemical (CP Chem). The 50-50 joint venture makes styrene monomer and a number of polystyrene resins. Its products go into the obvious (packaging and foam peanuts) and the unlikely (envelope windows and lighting applications). Americas Styrenics operates eight manufacturing facilities throughout the US and in Brazil and Colombia. It is the #1 producer of polystyrene and the #2 maker of styrene in the Western Hemisphere.

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