Every value on PaintAdditives.org, from a CLP hazard line to a VOC limit or an additive level, is taken from the body that issues it, recorded with its date and checked against the same value on every other page. Where two sources disagree, a fixed order decides, and a value that cannot be confirmed is left out.
This page sets out the sources, the precedence order, the checks, the conventions for levels, units and dates, the handling of unconfirmed values and the correction route. The method covers the paint additives that a formulator adds to liquid paint, and it ends with how authorship and supplier requests follow the same rules.
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.
Which Primary Sources Does PaintAdditives.org Use?#
PaintAdditives.org takes every value from the body that issues it: regulators and their registers, standards bodies, PubChem and ECHA for chemical identity, and producer data sheets for the values of one named product.
The table lists the kinds of value on the site, the primary source for each and what is taken from it.
| Kind of value | Primary source used | What is taken from it |
|---|---|---|
| Hazard classification, REACH Candidate List, restrictions | ECHA (C&L Inventory, Candidate List); EUR-Lex (CLP Annex VI and REACH annexes as consolidated) | Index number, hazard codes, adaptation and date of application; entry number and date |
| EU, US and California rules on VOC, biocides, lead and labeling | EUR-Lex, eCFR, EPA, SCAQMD, CARB, OEHHA, IMO | Article, entry or section, category, limit, basis, effective date |
| Test methods | ASTM, ISO, CEN and BIS catalogue records | Designation, edition or reaffirmation year, title, scope; never the text |
| Chemical identity | PubChem (CAS number, structure); ECHA (EC number) | CAS number, EC number, formula |
| Product levels and properties | Producer technical data sheets, product pages and guide formulations | The value of that one named product or formulation |
| Every substance page lists these values | Paint additive substances | CAS number, function, example level with basis, regulatory status |
Standards are cited by catalogue record (designation, edition, title, scope) and their text is not copied. No encyclopedia, blog or unofficial copy of a law or standard serves as a source.
Regulatory values link to the official text, and each primary source is cited on the pages for paint additive regulations.
Which Source Wins When Two Sources Disagree?#
When two sources disagree, the newer official text wins, then ECHA for EC numbers and CLP classification, PubChem for CAS numbers and structure, and a regulation or standard over a producer data sheet.
- Newer official text: ECHA, EUR-Lex, eCFR, the Federal Register, SCAQMD, CARB, OEHHA or a standards catalogue beats an older record.
- ECHA: its C&L Inventory sets CLP classification and the EC number.
- PubChem: it sets the CAS number and the structure.
- Regulation or standard: it beats a producer data sheet.
- Superseded edition or repealed act: never written as current; Decision (EU) 2025/2607, adopted 2025-12-17, repeals Decision 2014/312/EU for the EU Ecolabel of paints and is valid to 2032-12-31.
A producer data sheet describes its own product only, so its numbers never stand for a class of additives. A value also never travels between jurisdictions: VOC status, biocide approvals and limits always name the jurisdiction they belong to.
How Is Each Value Checked Before It Is Published?#
Each value is published only after it has been read at its primary source, recorded with the address of that source and the date it was read, and compared with the same value on every other page of the site.
- Read the value at the issuing body.
- Record the address of the source and the date it was read.
- Record the instrument, article or entry and its date of application.
- Record the basis and the unit.
- Compare the value with every other page that carries it.
- Recheck the value when its source changes: a new CLP adaptation, a Candidate List update, a biocide approval decision, an amended VOC rule, a new standard edition or a new market estimate.
One value carries one wording and one status across the site, and a page is not published while two pages disagree. A fact shared by two pages is written the same way on both.
How Are Hazard Classifications Written?#
A hazard classification is written as the harmonized CLP Annex VI entry with its index number and adaptation where one exists, otherwise as the ECHA C&L notified classification held by most notifiers, otherwise as "see supplier SDS".
BIT (CAS 2634-33-5) is harmonized: Annex VI index 613-088-00-6 as amended by ATP21, Regulation (EU) 2024/197, applicable since 2025-09-01, including H330 and Skin Sens. 1A. Texanol (CAS 25265-77-4) has no Annex VI entry and is written as "ECHA C&L notified classification: not classified" (REACH joint submission, 98.78 %, updated 2026-08-17). A notified classification is never called harmonized.
Labeling thresholds in a paint come from the specific concentration limits of the CLP entry. For BIT, a paint carries H317 from 0.036 % (360 ppm) and EUH208 from 0.0036 % (36 ppm); how these thresholds set the label is explained under CLP labeling of paints.
How Are Additive Levels, Units and Dates Written?#
Every level states its basis, every quantity is metric first with the US unit in parallel, and every regulatory value names its instrument, entry and date.
The table shows the six conventions, each with a sourced and dated example.
| Value | How it is written | Example on this site (source, date) | Where it is used |
|---|---|---|---|
| Additive level | With its basis: % on total formula (as supplied), % on binder solids, % metal on binder solids (driers), ppm active on total paint (biocides), % as supplied on pigment (dispersants) | Rheovis AS 1126 (BASF TDS): 1.1-3.5 % as supplied on total formula | Paint additive dosage |
| Units | Metric first, US unit in parallel | 1 lb/gal = 119.83 g/L; 1 mil = 25.4 µm; 1 P = 100 mPa·s; 250 °C (482 °F) | |
| VOC limit and VOC status | Jurisdiction, category, basis and date | EU: Directive 2004/42/EC Art. 2(5), initial boiling point of 250 °C or less at 101.3 kPa, content in g/L of the ready-to-use paint, water not subtracted (consolidation 02004L0042-20210716); US federal: 40 CFR 51.100(s) exemptions, AIM compliance in g/L less water and exempt compounds (40 CFR 59.406) | VOC in paint |
| Regulatory status | Instrument, entry or article, date of application; act date kept apart from approval date | MIT in product type 6: Implementing Regulation (EU) 2025/1257, approval from 2027-02-01 to 2037-01-31; product type 21 approvals of dicopper oxide and four other actives postponed from 2025-12-31 to 2028-06-30 by Implementing Decision (EU) 2025/1812 and four related decisions; US lead in consumer paint 0.009 % (90 ppm) of nonvolatile content, 16 CFR 1303.1, since 2009-08-14 | |
| Test method | Full designation with edition or reaffirmation year | ASTM D562-10(2023) for Krebs unit viscosity | Paint test methods |
| Market estimate | Publisher, year and scope in the same sentence | USD 10.1 billion in 2025 for paint additives (Grand View Research estimate) |
A level from one data sheet or guide formulation is written as that product's example and never as the level of a class. The word "typical" appears only where a producer, a standard or a regulator states the value for the whole class.
What Happens When a Value Cannot Be Confirmed?#
A value that cannot be confirmed at its primary source is left out of the page until the source can be read, and it is never published with a hedge such as "reportedly".
Proposals, drafts and consultations are kept apart from what applies today and are written as pending, with their own date. Where an official text is available only as an unofficial copy, the page names the instrument and gives no value. A page that lacks a figure says what is established and refers the reader to the page that owns the topic. The same rule covers every kind of value, so a gap in a level, a limit or a hazard line is never filled with an estimate, a rounded neighbor or a value from another jurisdiction.
How Are Errors Reported and Corrected?#
Readers report an error by writing to editorial@paintadditives.org with the page, the value and the source that contradicts it, and the value is then read again at its primary source and corrected on every page that carries it.
- The page address.
- The value as printed.
- The source that contradicts it, with its address.
A corrected value replaces the old one, and the update date of the page changes. No reply time is promised.
Reports can also be sent through the form on the page to contact PaintAdditives.org, which takes the same three items.
How Does the Methodology Apply to Authorship and Supplier Requests?#
The same rules apply to who is named on a page and to the request forms, which never change what a page says.
Who Writes the Pages?#
The site sells no additive, and no person is credited as an author or reviewer.
The reasons the site exists as an independent reference on paint additives are given on the about page.
Why Do Supplier Requests Not Change What a Page Says?#
Supplier requests are passed to independent providers and suppliers, and no listing on this site is paid for, so no producer is ranked, recommended or placed on a page.
A producer appears only as the source of one product's value, or in a neutral alphabetical list on substance and supplier pages.
Independence, supplier listings and corrections are set out in the editorial policy. The request forms carry one disclosure line: "Requests reach independent providers and suppliers, and no listing on this site is paid for; read the editorial policy."
- What the forms collect and why: privacy policy
- Where a request is written: request quotes for paint additives
- Terms such as harmonized and notified: paint additive glossary