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Two different types of blends are available from Western Colloid, which produces asphalt-based sealers. Jeff Luzar, pavement products manager, says Western Colloid also produces two blended products designed to enhance the asphalt sealer's resistance to gasoline and oil. One product is a custom-made asphalt emulsion sealer fortified with up to 10% acrylic latex; the other is a blended product with 90% asphalt and 10% coal tar.

"If you order the custom product you get 10% acrylic latex, but we also produce that product with varying amounts of latex depending on the job it's going to be used on," Luzar says. "We'll often take a look at the pavement beforehand and if it's a rough pavement that gets a lot of traffic we'll recommend the 10%, but often we'll add just 3% to 5% if the pavement is in better shape."

He says the custom product is more expensive, and the higher the percentage of acrylic latex the greater the cost, so Western Colloid hasn't sold a lot of it in any one year.

"But we expect to sell quite a bit more this year as the situation with coal tar becomes more apparent," Luzar says.

He says the asphalt coal tar blend also is not a high-demand product, especially in western markets where coal tar materials are reserved for airports and gas stations, but he says it's a viable product that some contractors like to use.