By PlasticAdditives.net Editorial Team. Every figure on this page carries the source it came from; the standards behind that sourcing are set out in our sourcing standards.
An independent, supplier-neutral reference for plastic additives: 43 additive families in 7 functional groups, substance profiles with CAS numbers, EU and US regulations, test methods, formulation data and suppliers.
PlasticAdditives.net is an independent technical reference for plastic additives: 43 additive families in 7 functional groups, substance profiles with CAS numbers, and the EU and US rules that apply to each one, published by an editorial team that sells no additives and takes no payment for a ranking. That raises the only question that matters on a page like this: where do the numbers come from?
They come from the instruments and registries that define them, and each one is named on the page where it is used: regulators and official texts such as ECHA, EUR-Lex, the eCFR and FDA, OEHHA, the US EPA and the Stockholm Convention, standards bodies such as ISO, ASTM, IEC and UL, peer-reviewed literature, reference handbooks and manufacturer technical data. What we take from each of those, and what we never take from them, is listed under sources and standards we cite.
This page covers what the reference is, who it is written for, what the public sections contain, how the site is funded, how to report an error, how to cite a page and how to reach us.
What PlasticAdditives.net Is#
PlasticAdditives.net is a technical reference for the substances that are added to plastics, written for the people who have to choose them, dose them, buy them or prove they are compliant. It covers additive selection, dosage, host polymers, test methods and the regulatory status of each substance under EU, US and global law.
PlasticAdditives.net is not a manufacturer: it makes no additive and holds no stock. Not a distributor: no order for a chemical is placed through this site. Not a marketplace: no company pays to appear ahead of another. Not a trade association: it represents no industry body. Not a campaign group: it argues no position on whether an additive should be banned or kept.
Who the reference is written for#
The reference is written for 5 groups of readers: formulators and compounders who design an additive package, converters who have to run it, buyers who have to source it, regulatory staff who have to clear it, and researchers who need a sourced number.
- Formulators and compounders designing an additive package for a target property or cost
- Converters running that package through extrusion, injection moulding or blow moulding
- Buyers and procurement staff comparing grades of the same substance across suppliers
- Regulatory and compliance staff clearing a formulation against EU 10/2011, REACH or TSCA
- Researchers and technical sales staff who need a sourced number for a specification
How PlasticAdditives.net differs from other plastic additives sources#
Four kinds of source already cover plastic additives: the chemical industry's own registers, hazard-screening datasets from research and advocacy groups, manufacturers' product pages, and printed handbooks, and each of them stops where this reference starts. The ICCA Plastic Additives Database is searchable by CAS RN, chemical name, InChIKey, function, sector and polymer type, sits behind user registration and carries no concentration ranges. Printed works such as the Hanser Plastics Additives Handbook (Zweifel, Maier and Schiller, 6th edition, 2009) cover the same substances in bound volumes that are not updated between editions.
This reference differs in 4 ways:
- Ungated: no registration and no paywall.
- Application-level data: dosage ranges, host polymers, test methods and the regulatory entry number, not identity alone.
- A named source per claim, including for the values we have not been able to confirm, which are marked as unverified rather than estimated.
- No commercial stake in which additive wins a specification.
What the Reference Covers#
The reference is organised in public sections, from the additive families themselves to the substance profiles, the polymer and application guides, the regulations, the test methods, the formulation data and the supplier and price guides.
| Section | What it contains |
|---|---|
| plastic additives | The root guide plus 43 family hubs, their sub-types and family-by-polymer pages |
| plastic additive substance profiles | One profile per substance and grade: CAS, function, dosage, host polymers, regulatory status |
| additives by polymer | The additive package each polymer needs, and why |
| plastic additives by application | The package each end use needs, from pipe to food packaging |
| plastic additive regulations | EU, US and global instruments, entry by entry |
| testing plastic additives | The test methods that prove an additive works |
| plastic formulation and additive processing | Dosage units, compounding, migration, interactions, recyclability |
| plastic additive manufacturers and suppliers | Directories by additive category, by company and by country |
| plastic additive prices | Price guides with the drivers behind each range |
| plastic additives market | Market size, segments and regions, always with the analyst and the year |
| Calculators and tools | Let-down ratio, PHR, dosage and cost-in-use, supplier finder |
| Health and environment | What is known about the additives the public asks about |
| plastic additives glossary | A to Z of the terms used across the site |
| plastic additives news | Regulatory changes, listings and market moves |
New pages publish on a rolling schedule rather than all at once, so a section grows between visits. Every page carries its own last-reviewed date.
The 43 additive families in 7 functional groups#
Every additive on the site belongs to one of 43 families, and every family to one of 7 functional groups: property modifiers, fillers and reinforcements, flame retardants and other functional additives, stabilizers, colorants and masterbatch, processing modifiers, and surface and optical modifiers. The group names and their order are the same on the root page, the home page and every family hub, so a family never changes group depending on which page names it.
The substance profiles#
Each substance profile answers the same questions in the same order: what the substance is, what it does, how much of it goes into which polymer, and what its status is under EU, US and global chemical law. A profile carries the CAS number, the EC number, the molecular formula, its function, its dosage range, its host polymers, the EU 10/2011 FCM number and SML where one exists, the FDA 21 CFR section, its REACH status, and whether it appears on the Proposition 65 list, the Stockholm Convention POPs list or a TSCA risk evaluation. Each of those values carries its own source link, so a reader can check a single number without working through a reference list at the foot of the page.
Polymers, applications, regulations, testing, formulation and sourcing#
The remaining sections take the same 43 families from a different angle: by polymer, by application, by regulation, by test method, by formulation step and by supplier. A polymer page states what a compound needs and why, for example that PVC starts to lose hydrogen chloride from 100 to 120 degrees Celsius, which is why every PVC compound carries a heat stabilizer. A regulation page states the instrument, the entry and the date, for example that lead compounds in PVC have been limited to below 0.1 % w/w since 29 November 2024 under REACH Annex XVII entry 63, introduced by Regulation (EU) 2023/923.
What we do not cover: additives for plastics only#
PlasticAdditives.net covers additives used in plastics: thermoplastics, thermosets used as plastics, compounds and masterbatch, and nothing else. The following material classes are out of scope, even where the underlying chemistry is the same:
- Concrete and cement admixtures
- Paints, coatings and inks
- Adhesives and sealants
- Fuel, oil and lubricant additives
- Food and feed additives
- Cosmetics
- Textile finishing
- Paper chemicals
- Rubber vulcanisation chemistry
A substance used both in plastics and in one of these fields is covered here for its plastics use only, which is why a plasticizer appears here for flexible PVC but not for concrete.
Where the Numbers Come From#
No page on this site is written from memory: a regulatory limit comes from the instrument or the regulator's own register, an identity value from a chemical registry, a test criterion from the standard itself, and a dosage or grade figure from a named manufacturer or association document. A value that cannot be traced to one of those is not printed as fact; the page states the limit of what is known and names what is still to be confirmed.
Which source types we use, in what order of authority, how a regulatory statement is written, and how often pages are reviewed are set out in our sourcing standards, with the authorities themselves listed under sources and standards we cite.
Independence, Funding and Editorial Policy#
PlasticAdditives.net is funded by display advertising, by quote requests that buyers send to suppliers through the supplier finder, and by gated selection guides, and none of those three earns a position in an article or a table. A paid featured listing in the supplier directory is planned as a separately labelled block, and it will never change who appears inside a table or in what order.
None of that funding buys the following: inclusion in a comparison table or a position within one; an advance look at a page before it publishes; an unlabelled placement in the directory; or an additive recommended because its supplier is an advertiser. This independence policy governs every page, and the rules behind these commitments are written out in full in our editorial policy.
Who Writes PlasticAdditives.net#
Pages are written and maintained by the PlasticAdditives.net Editorial Team and carry a team byline, because the site publishes no author persona and no credentials it cannot evidence. No page names an individual chemist, laboratory or reviewer, and no page claims that one checked it. What a reader can check instead is the source attached to each value and the date the page was last reviewed.
How to Report an Error or Request a Correction#
If a number on this site is wrong, tell us: the fastest correction is one that names the page, the figure and the primary source that contradicts it. A useful report contains 3 things:
- The page URL where the figure appears
- The figure or statement believed to be wrong
- The primary source that contradicts it, with its entry or edition number
A corrected page carries a dated correction note, and every other page that stated the old value is corrected at the same time. How quickly we respond and how a correction is marked is set out in our corrections policy.
How to Cite PlasticAdditives.net#
Cite the individual page rather than the site, because each page carries its own last-reviewed date and its own sources. A citation names the page title, the URL and the date it was accessed:
PlasticAdditives.net Editorial Team (2026). "PVC Heat Stabilizers: Types, Mechanisms, Dosage and Selection". https://plasticadditives.net/additives/heat-stabilizers/ (accessed DD Month YYYY).
The reference as a whole is PlasticAdditives.net. Whether a table or figure may be reproduced elsewhere is answered in the supplementary questions below.
How to Contact Us#
Three purposes route to us: correcting a fact, checking a supplier's own entry in the directory, and advertising or media enquiries. Corrections follow the process described above. A dedicated contact page with named addresses for the other two purposes is in preparation; until it publishes, use the correction route above and state the purpose in the first line.
Questions About PlasticAdditives.net#
Four questions come up often enough to answer here.
Is PlasticAdditives.net free to use?#
Do you cover the health effects of plastic additives?#
Yes, in a separate section: what is known about the additives the public asks about, drawn from the same regulators, authorities and peer-reviewed literature as the technical pages. We report what a regulator has decided and what a study found, and we do not translate either into a verdict on whether a product is safe, for example in phthalates: health effects.
Can I reuse your tables, figures and data?#
A single table or figure may be reproduced with attribution and a link to the page it came from. Systematic extraction, such as scraping every substance profile, is not permitted; the primary sources named on every page are free to use directly at their own source.
Do you sell plastic additives or work for a supplier?#
No: we sell no additives, hold no stock, and are not owned by, funded by or affiliated with any additive producer, distributor or trade association. What the site does earn money from, and what that money cannot buy, is stated in full above.