As I have said over in the other threads but not here yet: Our aim was to REDUCE toxidity and not increase it. XT-I was a 1:1 clone of Xtol. XT-II was a mix where we reduced the borates but still kept some in (fear-reserve). After thourough testing and hundreds of curves we felt confident enough to come straight with XT-III which has eliminated all borates completely. They are on the CORAP list here in the EU, mostly banned already and the last remaining one (which is in Xtol) is subject to a current investigation. We have to expect this substance to be banned in the very near future. The only downsize of our new buffer is its price. But other than this you can drink it. Captura technology increases safety in handling and helps in dissolving it. Keeping properties are at least the same with a high chance to be better. So in a nutshell XT-3 is the "greenest" version out there of all Xtol based developers.
That is excellent news. Though I know nothing about metals sequestration, I'll be interested to hear your reply to Michael_r's question, and how it relates to environmental toxicity.
In a related thread, antonio_b mentioned "Besides the practical reasons I prefer to buy from Foma or Fotoimpex, they have done a lot of work in order to keep film alive. Fotoimpex was reselling Czech and Yugoslavian film, ie. Foma and Fototeknika (Efke) in the aftermath of reunification, then they bought Adox patents/name from the croats, then relaunched Rodinal when Agfa went down. They have been keeping R&D active.
It's the opposite of Kodak, that as been destroyed by the usual american financial speculation games and lack of cultural interest for small companies."
Though there are certain notes in that statement that are bound to be disputed, ADOX seems like a very attractive company for the reasons antonio_b stated, in addition to perhaps producing a superior product. XT-III can't get to the local suppliers soon enough to suit me.
