Randy says:<ethylene is a "natural" chemical>

Ok, I think that an additive that would reduce the amont of pesticide contaminated dust released from treated seed is a good idea; in fact, I wondered from the start why a liquid drench wasn't used.  It's proclaiming ethylene a natural product (which it can be) and then suggesting that ethylene and polyethylene are the same (both natural) that I'm questioning.
 
Here's the rub, polyethyene is the most common type of plastic around.  Polyethylene is a synthetic polymer - it's created from petroleum; it doesn't exist in nature.  It's NOT a natural chemical.  

Many polyethylene formulations are NOT biodegradable, or at least, you and I won't live long enough to see it happen.  I fabricate things in my shop out of sheets of polyethylene all the time.  It can be hard and dense, or soft like foam, and many forms are flexible and rubbery.  That's nothing like ethylene itself, which is a gas.  And because many plastics will last far longer than us, that's why many environmental folks and landfills object to such widespread use of plastics.

Now, you are correct in that there are biodegradable forms of polyethylene.  Here's a more recent paper: http://www.plosone.org/article/info%3Adoi%2F10.1371%2Fjournal.pone.0071720;jsessionid=8DEEDF7470BA72DFB51859D8DAF7315C.

The questions are; is the formulation being used biodegradable (I'd assume it is), and if so, by what processes and how long does it take?   Just don't call it a natural chemical.  You of all people know that just because a chemical is natural doesn't mean it can't be harmful (e.g. rotenone)  or that it rapidly degrades - but that seems to be the message you are implying by referring to polyethylene as ethylene.

You know  I've got to call you on this one, Randy.  
 
 

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