PaintAdditives.org is an independent reference on additives for liquid paints, and five rules govern every page: independence from producers, named primary sources, dated values, neutral supplier listings and open corrections.
The site sells no additive and takes no payment for a listing. Its pages on paint additives cover 15 additive families, and each value on them carries its basis, its source and, for a rule, its date, so a reader can trace it to the body that issued it.
How we check: regulations and classifications are read at the body that issues them, standards at the standards body, and every additive level names its basis and its source; the full method is in methodology and fact-checking.
What Does PaintAdditives.org Publish, and for Whom?#
PaintAdditives.org publishes reference pages on additives for liquid paints, the substances behind them for their paint use, the defects they fix, the tests that measure them and the rules that govern them. The paints covered are architectural and decorative paints, wood stains and varnishes, primers, industrial, road-marking and antifouling paints.
The 15 additive families are rheology modifiers, dispersants, wetting agents, leveling agents, defoamers, driers, anti-skinning agents, coalescents, biocides, matting agents, adhesion promoters, corrosion inhibitors, light stabilizers, neutralizers and functional additives. Powder, UV-curable, coil and can coatings, printing inks, adhesives, construction chemicals, art paints, auto refinishing and paint removal are not covered.
The readers are formulators, R&D and QC chemists, regulatory staff and raw-material buyers at paint makers, with the EU, the United States and India as the main markets. The only author line is "PaintAdditives.org Editorial Team"; no page carries an individual byline.
How Is PaintAdditives.org Independent From Additive Producers?#
PaintAdditives.org sells no additive, takes no payment for a listing or a position on any page, and ranks no producer, so no company can buy a mention, a better table row or a kinder sentence. The table shows where a company name may appear.
| Place | What may appear | What never appears |
|---|---|---|
| Paint additive substances | A neutral alphabetical list of the producers the site records; a producer as the source of one product's value | A ranking, a "best" label, a company the site favors |
| Family hubs, paint-type and defect pages | A trade name only as the source of one product's value, written "{trade name} ({producer} TDS): {range} {basis}" | A company named elsewhere in the text |
| Supplier pages | Facts on who makes or sells which additive family, in alphabetical order | Paid placement; a list presented as complete |
Trade names appear in grades sections and as other names of the generic substance, never as an endorsement. A producer cannot pay for placement in editorial content.
The reasoning behind the site is set out on the page about why it is an independent reference on paint additives, and the rules here apply to every page of it.
No advertising appears on the site today. If display advertising is added later, it never sits above the main content and never appears on trust or tool pages.
Which Primary Sources Does Every Value Come From?#
Every value comes from the body that issues it: EUR-Lex and ECHA for EU law and classification, eCFR and EPA for US rules, standards bodies for test methods, and the producer's data sheet for that product only. When sources disagree, the regulation or standard wins over a data sheet, and a data sheet describes only its own product.
| Type of fact | Issuing body cited | Example on the site |
|---|---|---|
| EU law and its dates | EUR-Lex, consolidated text named | Directive 2004/42/EC, consolidation 02004L0042-20210716 |
| Hazard classification, Candidate List, biocide listings | ECHA | Benzisothiazolinone (BIT), Annex VI index 613-088-00-6 |
| US federal VOC and labeling rules | eCFR, EPA | 40 CFR 59.406(a)(1); see VOC in paint |
| California rules | SCAQMD, CARB, OEHHA | Rule 1113 and Prop 65 listings, named as the issuing body prints them |
| Marine antifouling rules | IMO | AFS Convention |
| Test methods | ASTM, ISO, CEN and BIS catalogues | Designation with edition year; see paint test methods |
| Product values | The producer's own data sheet, as that product's value only | BENTONE 34 (Elementis TDS) |
Wikipedia, third-party copies of standards or laws and blogs are never cited for a general statement. The checks behind each source are set out in how every value is sourced and checked.
How Are Levels, Hazard Lines and Regulatory Dates Written?#
Every number on the site carries its basis or unit, its source and, for a rule, its instrument and date; five writing rules apply.
- Levels with basis: % on total formula, % on binder solids, % metal on binder solids for driers, ppm active on total paint for biocides, and % as supplied on pigment for dispersants. Example: BENTONE 34 (Elementis TDS) is 0.2-0.5 % dry on total system weight in house and industrial paints.
- Hazard lines: the harmonized CLP Annex VI line with its index number, else "No Annex VI entry; ECHA C&L notified classification", else "see the product SDS"; a notified line is never called harmonized. Example: BIT in a paint triggers EUH208 from 36 ppm and H317 from 360 ppm (Annex VI 613-088-00-6 as amended by ATP21, Regulation (EU) 2024/197, since 2025-09-01).
- VOC with jurisdiction and basis: the EU counts organic compounds with an initial boiling point of 250 °C (482 °F) or less at 101.3 kPa, in g/L of the ready-to-use paint with water included (Directive 2004/42/EC Art. 2(5)); the US federal AIM rule counts g/L less water and exempt compounds (40 CFR 59.406(a)(1)).
- Units: metric first, US units in parallel: g/L (lb/gal, with 1 lb/gal = 119.83 g/L), °C (°F), µm (mils, with 1 mil = 25.4 µm).
- Market figures as a named estimate: Grand View Research estimates the paint additives market at USD 10.1 billion in 2025.
Rules adopted for a later date are written as future, apart from what applies today. The EU POPs limit for UV-328 in mixtures is 100 mg/kg since 2025-08-04 and falls to 10 mg/kg on 2027-08-04 (Delegated Regulation (EU) 2025/843).
How Are Suppliers Listed and Where Do Quote Requests Go?#
Suppliers appear only as facts: a producer is named as the source of one product's value, or in a neutral alphabetical list of producers on substance and supplier pages, never in a ranking and never as an endorsement. The same rule applies to the lists on paint additive suppliers and manufacturers.
Producer lists are not exhaustive and are ordered alphabetically or by additive family, so a missing company carries no meaning.
Every form on the site prints the same disclosure beneath it: "Requests reach independent providers and suppliers, and no listing on this site is paid for; read the editorial policy."
Buyers who request quotes for paint additives write their specification once; the form says: "Write your specification once; it reaches several independent suppliers of paint additives."
If paid listings are ever introduced, they are marked "sponsored" on the page and in the link attribute. Banned and legacy substances such as lead driers and chromates get replacement guidance, never a quote form.
How Are Errors Corrected and Regulatory Changes Tracked?#
Errors are corrected on the page itself, with the date of the change, once the value has been checked against its primary source. The steps are:
- Send the page URL, the value in question and the primary source to editorial@paintadditives.org.
- The editorial team checks the value against the issuing body.
- A wrong or outdated value is replaced, never kept beside the new one as if both applied.
- The page shows the date of its last update, and a correction that changes a level, a classification or a limit is noted at the end of the page with its date.
Besides reader reports, a review starts when a new CLP adaptation, an EU biocide authorisation or postponement, a revised Decopaint or AIM text, an SCAQMD or CARB amendment, or a new ASTM or ISO edition appears.
Proposals and consultations are reported apart from what applies today; the current picture is on the index of paint additive regulations.
Corrections never depend on who reports them: a producer's request is checked against the issuing body in the same way as a reader's.
How to Reach the Editorial Team#
The editorial team is reached at editorial@paintadditives.org for corrections, source questions and suggestions for missing substances or rules.
- How values are sourced and checked
- Contact PaintAdditives.org
- What PaintAdditives.org collects and why
- Paint additive glossary
Does PaintAdditives.org Give Medical, Legal or Safety Advice?#
No: the site describes classifications and rules with their source, and for handling the supplier SDS and the regulator decide. A classification is never downplayed.
Compliance decisions rest with the paint maker and the official text the page cites.