Imaflex Inc. announced positive interim results from a field trial assessing the efficacy of its next generation crop protection film, ADVASEAL®, compared to commonly used fumigants. Independent analytical lab results of ADVASEAL® samples collected at the trial site, in the three-week period following the film being laid on the ground, indicate that the active ingredients are being released into the soil in the desired manner. This is in line with the prerequisites for effective soil disinfestation, safe product use and pesticide registration relating to fruit and vegetable production. Fumigants are volatile pesticides that are essential in reducing weeds and soil borne pathogen levels in the soil before planting (soil disinfestation), giving young crops a good start in a low pest zone environment. Currently, fumigants offer the greatest efficacy for soil disinfestation, but they also have the highest health and environmental risk due to their volatility, toxicity and required application rate of a few hundred pounds per acre. The company's patent protected film, ADVASEAL®, has been designed to replace this practice with an environmentally friendly, cost- and time-saving alternative that allows for the safe and precise application of pre-plant crop protection products, including an herbicide, nematicide and three fungicides. These five active ingredients are coated onto a mulch film and once applied to the ground they are released into the soil under controlled conditions. The current tested formulation for ADVASEAL® equates to a total application rate of less than one pound per acre for all five active ingredients. This is well over 95% less fumigants than that required for soil disinfestation. The Efficacy Trial is taking place in Florida and is now in its eighth week. It is being conducted by an independent research organization, well recognized by both the crop protection industry and regulatory agencies. The trial is evaluating ADVASEAL®'s ability to release its crop protection products into the soil and achieve soil disinfestation – prior to planting tomato seedlings – within the same three-week window currently required with standard fumigants for tomatoes. Concurrently, the trial is monitoring plant growth, yield and quality, compared to a crop grown under the current best Florida grower standard for fresh tomato production using fumigants. The tomato plant was chosen as a model crop, because it is the most widely grown vegetable in the world. Furthermore, if high yields can be achieved using ADVASEAL® with tomato plants, it can likely be used to produce high yields for most other fruits and vegetables that require pre-plant soil disinfestation with fumigants. Full trial results, including plant growth, yield and quality for both the ADVASEAL® test crop and grower reference will be released once the growing season is complete and the independent report is available.