The performance and safety materials division supplies high-performance chemicals and materials that cater to a wide range of industries, examples being performance polymers such Nylon, and high-strength materials used for safety materials, such as DuPontTM Kevlar, Nomex and Tyvek.

FORBES: DuPont Depends On Margins And Market Share

Dow Chemical ( DOW) supplies plastic materials and chemicals to customers around the world, but North America is its largest geographic market, producing 36.4% of first quarter 2010 revenues.

FORBES: Time To Take A Chance On Dow

This should not cause problems for public water companies, which already have monitoring and treatment processes to deal with any organisms or chemicals in their supplies.

BBC: Pyre health risk warning

For all the attention given to technologies like horizontal drilling and hydraulic fracturing, some of the greatest gains to be made in reducing the environmental risks of natural-gas production come from simple things like the proper pouring of cement well casings and the proper handling of chemicals and wastewater, so that they do not spill or seep into streams or water supplies.

WSJ: Is Natural Gas the Road to a Clean Energy Future?

The nation's capital, Harare, has not imported adequate supplies of chemicals to treat water, resulting in citizens resorting to shallow wells and rivers for water, according to health advocates.

CNN: Cholera kills 300 in battered Zimbabwe