Specialty materials company Rohm and Haas Co. said it will devote half of its $300 million research and development budget in 2007 to environmentally advanced technologies, its largest percentage yet, according to the Associated Press. The Philadelphia-based company is investing in new products to help make industrial paints more environmentally friendly, reduce the formaldehyde content in household items and reduce chemical gas emissions from coatings for bridges. Rohm and Haas has been steadily boosting the percentage of its R&D budget going to environmentally advanced technologies over the past several years, up from about 20 percent in 2002. Among the investments are products to help make water-based acrylic paints more effective for painting highway lane markers. Governments already use mostly water-based acrylic paints, rather than solvent-based paints, but the acrylics aren't as effective when the air temperature falls. With new technology, industrial paint makers are able to improve acrylic paints, allowing them to be used later in the year. New technology, such as water-based resins, is also allowing more fiberglass insulation to be made without formaldehyde, high amounts of which can be toxic.