Plasticizers for Plastics: 14 Types, How They Work, Dosage and Selection

Plasticizers are substances incorporated into a plastic or elastomer to increase its flexibility, workability or distensibility, in the wording of ASTM D883, and this reference groups the plasticizers used in plastics into 14 chemical types, from ortho-phthalates to bio-based esters. Concrete superplasticizers share the name but are cement admixtures, outside the scope of this page. Plasticizers account for 34 % of plastic additive consumption by weight (Wikipedia, plastic additive entry), and flexible PVC carries 5 to 65 wt% of them, so which plasticizer goes into which plastic, and at what level?

Plasticizers soften PVC above all, and they also soften PVB safety-glass interlayers, cellulose acetate and cellulose acetate butyrate, polylactic acid, polyamide 11 and polyamide 12, and nitrile and chloroprene rubber. The 14 types are ortho-phthalates, terephthalates, trimellitates, aliphatic diesters, cyclohexane dicarboxylates, epoxidized oils, polymerics, benzoates, citrates, phosphate esters, chlorinated paraffins, glycol esters, sulfonic esters and sulfonamides, and other bio-based esters.

Plasticizers are the largest family of plastic additives by weight, which is why this page runs the full route: the plasticization mechanism with its four theories, the ±1.5 (cal/cm³)^0.5 compatibility window and the 15 phr antiplasticization threshold; each of the 14 types with its named substances; the match between plasticizer and polymer and between plasticizer and application; dosage in phr and wt%; 8 selection criteria; the hardness, volatility, migration, extraction and fogging tests; the EU, US and other rules substance by substance; the producers and the 2025 trade picture; and a complete list of all 56 plasticizer substances covered on this site. A plasticiser is never chemically bound to the polymer, so permanence, migration and regulation run through every section.

Table T1. The 14 plasticizer types at a glance.

Footnote: LMW = low molecular weight, HMW = high molecular weight (European Plasticisers definition).

What Is a Plasticizer?#

A plasticizer is a substance incorporated into a plastic or elastomer to increase its flexibility, workability or distensibility, as defined in ASTM D883. The definition is deliberately functional rather than chemical, because plasticizers span esters, chlorinated hydrocarbons, polyesters and oils. What does a plasticizer change inside the polymer?

A plasticizer lowers the glass transition temperature, the elastic modulus and the melt viscosity of the host polymer, which is why rigid PVC pipe and flexible PVC cable insulation start from the same resin. External plasticizers of this kind are blended in, not copolymerised, so they are not chemically bound and can leave the material again over its service life. The drop in glass transition temperature is the single measurement that tracks the effect most directly.

Plasticizer and plasticiser are the same word in the two standard spellings, with plasticization and plasticisation following the same pattern, and the older English term softener matches the German Weichmacher used in European technical literature. More than 30,000 substances have been evaluated historically as plasticizers, while about 50 are in commercial use (Wikipedia, plasticizer entry). This page uses "plasticizer" throughout and treats the class names as fixed.

What are plasticizers used for?#

Plasticizers are used mainly to make PVC flexible: more than 85 % of the plasticizers consumed in Europe go into flexible PVC for cable, flooring, film, coated fabrics and medical tubing (European Plasticisers). Six product families account for most of the volume, and each one is named with its host polymer below.

• Flexible PVC products: wire and cable insulation, floor covering, cling film, coated fabrics, medical tubing and plastisol closure gaskets, all built on plasticized poly(vinyl chloride). Full recipes belong to flexible PVC formulations.
• PVB safety-glass interlayers: laminated windscreen and architectural glass, plasticized with 3GO or DBS at 20 to 40 % w/w.
• Cellulose esters: cellulose acetate and cellulose acetate butyrate, plasticized with triacetin, DEP, DMP or triethyl citrate.
• Polylactic acid: compostable film and thermoformed packaging, plasticized with acetyl tributyl citrate.
• Polyamide 11 and polyamide 12: fuel lines and air-brake tubing, plasticized with N-butylbenzenesulfonamide at 10 to 15 wt%.
• Nitrile and chloroprene rubber: seals, hoses and gaskets, where ester plasticizers set the low-temperature brittleness point.

What is the most common plasticizer?#

DEHP (DOP) is the most widely used single plasticizer, at an estimated 3.24 million tonnes in 2018 (Ceresana estimate via Wikipedia), although high-molecular-weight phthalates such as DINP and DIDP now account for about 85 % of ortho-phthalate production in Western Europe, against under 11 % for the low-molecular-weight grades (European Plasticisers). The two statements sit together because DEHP volume is concentrated outside Western Europe.

Global plasticizer consumption is 8.4 million tonnes per year (European Plasticisers), and S&P Global Commodity Insights, in the Chemical Economics Handbook of December 2024, forecasts consumption growth of 2.3 % per year and a phthalate share of 52.4 % in 2029. Ortho-phthalates therefore remain the largest group by volume while losing share to terephthalates, cyclohexane dicarboxylates and adipates.

Primary plasticizers, secondary plasticizers and extenders#

A primary plasticizer is compatible enough with the resin to be the only plasticizer in a compound, as DEHP, DINP and DOTP are in PVC, while a secondary plasticizer such as epoxidized soybean oil or a chlorinated paraffin is used alongside a primary one. Secondary plasticizers are chosen for a second function or for cost: ESBO also scavenges the hydrogen chloride that PVC releases on heating, and chlorinated paraffins also act as flame retardants with antimony trioxide. A blend of 70 % DOP with 30 % chlorinated paraffin reaches DOP-equivalent hardness, which shows how far a secondary plasticizer can carry the load before compatibility limits it.

Table T2. Primary plasticizers, secondary plasticizers and extenders.

Blending rules and compatibility limits belong to primary vs secondary plasticizers.

Are phthalates and plasticizers the same thing?#

No: phthalates are one class of plasticizers, the ortho-phthalate esters, and roughly half of plasticizer demand is forecast to come from other classes. S&P Global Commodity Insights puts the phthalate share at 52.4 % in 2029, which leaves terephthalates, trimellitates, adipates, cyclohexane dicarboxylates, citrates, benzoates, epoxidized oils and polymerics to cover the rest. In chemistry and in US EPA usage, "phthalate" means a dialkyl ortho-phthalate ester, so DOTP (CAS 6422-86-2) is a terephthalate and a non-ortho-phthalate even though it is a phthalic acid ester.

How Do Plasticizers Work?#

Plasticizers work by placing small, compatible molecules between polymer chains, which weakens chain-to-chain attraction, adds free volume and lowers the glass transition temperature so the plastic bends instead of breaking. In PVC the plasticizer ester group solvates the polar carbon-chlorine dipoles, which breaks the dipole-dipole network that makes unplasticized PVC rigid at room temperature.

Because the plasticizer is not bound to the polymer, the same mobility that produces flexibility also produces loss over time, so mechanism and permanence are one subject. The theories in depth are on how plasticizers work.

The 4 theories of plasticization#

Four theories explain plasticization: the lubricity theory, the gel theory, the free-volume theory and the mechanistic (solvation-desolvation) theory. Each describes the same observation from a different angle, and formulators use all four.

1. Lubricity theory: the plasticizer acts as an internal lubricant, letting polymer chains slide past one another with less friction under stress.
2. Gel theory: the rigid polymer is treated as a three-dimensional gel held together by intermittent points of attachment, and the plasticizer breaks a fraction of those attachment points, leaving a looser network.
3. Free-volume theory: the plasticizer adds free volume between chains, which raises segmental mobility and lowers the glass transition temperature. Polylactic acid plasticized with acetyl tributyl citrate follows the Fox law for glass transition temperature up to 17 wt%, which is the free-volume prediction holding to the solubility limit.
4. Mechanistic (solvation-desolvation) theory: plasticizer molecules exchange continuously between solvated and desolvated states at the polar sites of the polymer, so the equilibrium, not a fixed bond, sets the softening effect.

The Hallstar technical review "The Function and Selection of Ester Plasticizers" sets out all four and treats them as complementary rather than competing.

Compatibility: polarity and solubility parameter#

A plasticizer is compatible with a polymer when their solubility parameters differ by no more than about ±1.5 (cal/cm³)^0.5, which is why polar esters suit PVC but not EPDM. EPDM is a non-polar hydrocarbon elastomer and is essentially incompatible with ester plasticizers, so it uses paraffinic or naphthenic process oils instead. Two structure-property rules predict most of the rest.

• Alcohol chain length: a longer alcohol chain lowers polarity, which reduces compatibility and processability, raises viscosity, lowers volatility, and improves low-temperature flexibility. DIDP against DBP shows the whole trend in one class.
• Chain branching: more branching worsens low-temperature performance, raises volatility, lowers oxidative stability and raises volume resistivity, which matters directly in cable insulation.

The solubility parameter quantifies polarity in a single number and is the first screen in any substitution exercise.

Why too little plasticizer makes PVC stiffer (antiplasticization)#

PVC needs at least about 15 phr of plasticizer to become flexible; below that level the plasticizer stiffens the compound instead, an effect called antiplasticization. Small additions increase chain packing efficiency and suppress the low-temperature beta relaxation, so modulus and yield strength rise rather than fall. Matuana and co-workers measured exactly this in PVC and wood-fibre composites, where yield strength kept rising up to 3.75 phr of DOP before the normal softening took over.

Above the threshold the relationship reverses and becomes close to linear, which is how the commercial hardness range is set: flexible PVC compounds run from 50 to 90 Shore A across the usual 5 to 65 wt% plasticizer window. A compound formulated at 10 phr therefore sits in the worst place available, harder than the unplasticized resin in stiffness and yield strength and without the toughness of a properly plasticized one.

Permanence: volatility, extraction and migration#

Plasticizers leave a plastic in 3 ways: by evaporation (volatility), by dissolving into liquids (extraction) and by moving into materials they touch (migration). Permanence is the property that separates a cable compound from a cling film, and it scales with molecular weight and viscosity.

• Volatility: loss to air, accelerated by heat. In nitrile rubber with 34 % acrylonitrile at 20 pphr, the weight change after 70 hours at 125 °C was -9.2 % for DOP, -4.2 % for DINP and -3.8 % for DIDP (Hallstar).
• Extraction: loss into a contacting liquid such as oil, fat, soapy water or solvent. Polymeric plasticizers rate good to excellent against organic extraction and only poor to good against aqueous extraction.
• Migration: transfer into a contacting solid such as a printed label, a foam layer or a food simulant, driven by the concentration gradient.

Loss of plasticizer costs flexibility first and then integrity: the compound embrittles, shrinks and cracks. Causes and fixes belong to plasticizer migration, extraction and volatility, while the diffusion models that predict the rate are on additive migration.

14 Types of Plasticizers by Chemistry#

The 14 types of plasticizers used in plastics are ortho-phthalates, terephthalates, trimellitates, aliphatic diesters, cyclohexane dicarboxylates, epoxidized oils, polymerics, benzoates, citrates, phosphate esters, chlorinated paraffins, glycol esters, sulfonic esters and sulfonamides, and other bio-based esters. The order runs from the commodity classes by volume to the specialty and niche classes, and the same order is used in Table T1, in the master list and in the class tree below.

Four classes cover most commercial volume, which is why the first four sections below carry the most substances, while classes 12 to 14 exist to solve one problem each.

1. Ortho-phthalates (low and high molecular weight)#

Ortho-phthalates are diesters of ortho-phthalic acid and the largest plasticizer class, split into low-molecular-weight types such as DEHP and DBP and high-molecular-weight types such as DINP and DIDP. European Plasticisers defines the split by the alcohol backbone: 3 to 6 carbon atoms for the low-molecular-weight grades (DEHP, DBP, DIBP, BBP) and 7 to 13 carbon atoms for the high-molecular-weight grades (DINP, DIDP, DPHP, DIUP, DTDP). High-molecular-weight grades make up about 85 % of Western European ortho-phthalate production and the low-molecular-weight grades under 11 %, a split driven entirely by regulation rather than by performance.

DEHP is the efficiency benchmark of the whole family, carrying the reference substitution factor of 1.00, and it holds a harmonised CLP classification as Repr. 1B (H360FD). DINP received the opposite outcome: the ECHA Risk Assessment Committee adopted an opinion on 9 March 2018 that no classification for reproductive toxicity is warranted. The short-chain members DMP and DEP are not PVC plasticizers at all in current practice but softeners for cellulose esters. Low-molecular-weight and high-molecular-weight grades are compared on phthalate plasticizers.

2. Terephthalates#

Terephthalates are para-substituted phthalate esters such as DOTP (DEHT) that solvate PVC almost like DEHP but are not ortho-phthalates, which makes DOTP the leading general-purpose non-phthalate plasticizer. The para substitution has one decisive consequence: terephthalates form no stable monoester metabolite, which is the metabolite responsible for the reproductive effects of the low-molecular-weight ortho-phthalates.

DOTP carries CAS 6422-86-2, a typical substitution factor of 1.03, EU food-contact authorisation as FCM 798 with a specific migration limit of 60 mg/kg, and no entry on the REACH Candidate List. The Danish Environmental Protection Agency named DEHT one of the three most promising DEHP alternatives, alongside DINCH and COMGHA. Dibutyl terephthalate (DBT, CAS 1962-75-0) is the fast-fusing short-chain member of the class, used in polyurethane and soft PVC. Class data are on terephthalate plasticizers.

3. Trimellitates#

Trimellitates are triesters of trimellitic acid, such as TOTM and TINTM, whose high molecular weight gives the lowest volatility of the common PVC plasticizers. Three ester arms on one aromatic ring take the molecular weight of TOTM to 546.8 g/mol and the vapour pressure to a level where the compound survives continuous heat.

Kaya and co-workers, writing in Polymers in 2026, measured a decomposition onset of 262 °C for TOTM at 50 phr against 236 °C for DOA at the same loading, a 26 K gap that explains the use of trimellitates in high-temperature cable insulation, low-fogging automotive interiors and medical tubing. The efficiency cost is real: the typical substitution factor of TOTM is 1.11, so a compound needs about 11 % more of it than of DEHP for the same hardness. TOTM against TINTM is compared on trimellitate plasticizers.

4. Aliphatic diesters: adipates, azelates and sebacates#

Aliphatic diesters are esters of adipic, azelaic or sebacic acid, such as DEHA (DOA) and DOS, that give flexible PVC and nitrile rubber the best low-temperature flexibility. The flexible aliphatic backbone contributes a much lower glass transition temperature than an aromatic ring, at the cost of higher volatility and easier extraction.

DEHA (DOA, CAS 103-23-1) is the main plasticizer of PVC cling film and carries EU food-contact authorisation as FCM 207 with a specific migration limit of 18 mg/kg. The class also covers DINA, DIDA, DBA and DTDA among the adipates, DOZ among the azelates, and DOS and DBS among the sebacates. Low-temperature performance is measured directly: in nitrile rubber at 20 pphr, DBEEA reached a brittleness point of -40 °C as moulded against -33 °C for DOP (Hallstar, ASTM D2137). Cold-flex grades are on adipate, azelate and sebacate plasticizers.

5. Cyclohexane dicarboxylates#

Cyclohexane dicarboxylates are hydrogenated phthalates, such as DINCH and DEHCH, made for sensitive uses like medical devices, toys and food packaging. Hydrogenating the aromatic ring to a cyclohexane ring lowers polarity, which improves low-temperature flexibility and reduces solvating power, so plastisols made with DINCH fuse more slowly but hold a lower and more stable viscosity.

DINCH carries CAS 166412-78-8 outside the United States and CAS 474919-59-0 for the US product, a 90:10 cis:trans isomer ratio, and EU food-contact authorisation as FCM 775 under group restriction 32. DEHCH is the hydrogenated counterpart of DOTP, commercialised by Hanwha Solutions as Eco-DEHCH. Both are outside the REACH Candidate List. Class detail is on cyclohexane dicarboxylate plasticizers.

6. Epoxidized oils and esters#

Epoxidized oils such as epoxidized soybean oil (ESBO) are secondary plasticizers that also trap the hydrogen chloride PVC releases, so they double as heat co-stabilizers at 1 to 2 wt%. The oxirane rings on the epoxidized fatty acid chains open on reaction with HCl, which removes the autocatalyst of PVC dehydrochlorination.

Czogała and co-workers reported in 2021 that ESBO needs 25 to 45 wt% to act as the main plasticizer, against the 1 to 2 wt% used as a co-stabilizer, and that it works synergistically with calcium and zinc carboxylate systems. ESBO holds EU food-contact authorisation as FCM 532 with a specific migration limit of 60 mg/kg, tightened to 30 mg/kg for PVC gaskets sealing glass jars of infant formula and baby food. Epoxidized linseed oil (ELO) carries a higher oxirane content and meets the FDA requirement of at least 9 % oxirane oxygen in 21 CFR 178.3740. ESBO against ELO is compared on epoxidized plasticizers, and the calcium-zinc systems it supports are covered under PVC heat stabilizers.

7. Polymeric (polyester) plasticizers#

Polymeric plasticizers are polyesters of dibasic acids and glycols whose large molecules barely evaporate or migrate, trading low-temperature flexibility for permanence. They are built from dibasic acids of 4 to 10 carbon atoms alternating with glycols of 2 to 5 carbon atoms, end-capped by a monobasic acid or alcohol to stop further chain growth.

Higher viscosity means greater permanence in this class, and the performance profile follows directly: resistance to organic extraction and to volatility rates good to excellent, low-temperature flexibility rates poor to fair, and aqueous extraction resistance rates poor to good (Hallstar). Commercial polyester plasticizer lines include the Admex grades from Eastman. Grade selection is on polymeric plasticizers.

8. Benzoates#

Benzoates such as dipropylene glycol dibenzoate (DPGDB) are fast-fusing plasticizers that gel PVC plastisols at lower temperatures and replace BBP in flooring and adhesives. High solvating power is the defining property, and it comes from the aromatic benzoate ester group on a short glycol backbone.

DPGDB (CAS 27138-31-4) and diethylene glycol dibenzoate (DEGDB, CAS 120-55-8) are the volume grades, with isononyl benzoate and neopentyl glycol dibenzoate covering viscosity-critical formulations. The drawback is shared with the other fast fusers, DBP, DIBP, BBP and DIHP: plastisol viscosity rises steadily during storage. Fast fusers are compared on benzoate plasticizers.

9. Citrates#

Citrates are esters of citric acid, such as acetyl tributyl citrate (ATBC), used in toys, food film, medical PVC and as the standard plasticizer for PLA. The citric acid backbone is bio-based and its metabolites are well characterised, which is why this class dominates the sensitive-use segment alongside the cyclohexane dicarboxylates.

ATBC (CAS 77-90-7) holds EU food-contact authorisation as FCM 138 under group restriction 32, and it is the reference plasticizer for polylactic acid: at 13 wt% and above, PLA films reach elongation at break above 300 %. Tributyl citrate (TBC) and triethyl citrate (TEC) cover cellulosics and coatings-grade applications. Butyryl trihexyl citrate (BTHC) is used in blood and platelet storage containers and is one of four DEHP alternatives listed in the European Pharmacopoeia for blood containers. Class data are on citrate plasticizers.

10. Phosphate esters#

Phosphate esters are flame-retardant plasticizers, such as tricresyl phosphate and 2-ethylhexyl diphenyl phosphate, that soften PVC while raising its fire resistance. They act in the condensed phase by promoting char, and they are the only plasticizer class that improves fire performance without a separate additive.

Smoke behaviour splits the class: aryl phosphates generate smoke, alkyl phosphates do not, and magnesium hydroxide converts black smoke to white where an aryl grade is required. EHDPP holds EU food-contact authorisation as FCM 392 with a specific migration limit of 2.4 mg/kg. Tricresyl phosphate carries a specific hazard in its ortho-cresyl isomer, which causes organophosphate-induced delayed neuropathy, so commercial grades are manufactured to minimise ortho content. Smoke and oxygen-index data are on phosphate ester plasticizers, and the other routes to fire performance are covered under flame retardants for plastics.

11. Chlorinated paraffins#

Chlorinated paraffins are chlorinated n-alkanes, grouped as short-, medium- and long-chain (SCCP, MCCP, LCCP), that act as secondary plasticizers and flame retardants in PVC and rubber. The three groups are defined by carbon number: C10 to C13 for SCCP, C14 to C17 for MCCP and above C17 for LCCP, at chlorination levels of about 30 to 70 wt%.

Chlorine content carries the flame retardancy, and antimony trioxide is the standard synergist. As plasticizers they are extenders: a blend of 70 % DOP with 30 % chlorinated paraffin gives DOP-equivalent hardness at lower cost. Regulation now dominates the class. SCCP has been listed in Annex A of the Stockholm Convention since 2017 (decision SC-8/11), and MCCP was added to Annex A at COP-12 in 2025 (decision SC-12/10), in force from 16 December 2026. MCCP has been on the REACH Candidate List since 8 July 2021, and the EU delegated regulation C(2026) 6262 of 11 September 2026 has been adopted by the Commission but is not yet in force. Status by chain length is on chlorinated paraffins.

12. Glycol esters#

Glycol esters such as 3GO (triethylene glycol bis(2-ethylhexanoate)) and TXIB plasticize PVB safety-glass interlayers and lower the viscosity of PVC plastisols. 3GO (CAS 94-28-0) is the standard interlayer plasticizer at 20 to 40 % w/w of the polyvinyl butyral film, where it resists hydrolysis in the laminate over decades of weathering.

TXIB (CAS 6846-50-0) works differently: it is a low-viscosity, partly fugitive viscosity depressant that flashes off during plastisol fusion in sheet vinyl flooring. It holds EU food-contact authorisation as FCM 497 with a specific migration limit of 5 mg/kg, restricted to single-use gloves.

13. Sulfonic esters and sulfonamides#

Sulfonic esters and sulfonamides are polar plasticizers: alkylsulfonic phenyl ester (Mesamoll) resists hydrolysis in PVC and polyurethane, and N-butylbenzenesulfonamide (BBSA) is the standard plasticizer for polyamide 11 and 12 tubing. The sulfonate and sulfonamide groups are more hydrolysis-stable than a carboxylic ester, which is the reason for using them in wet or humid service.

ASE (Mesamoll, Lanxess, CAS 91082-17-6) is a general-purpose plasticizer for PVC, polyurethane, rubber and sealants. BBSA (CAS 3622-84-2) is used at 10 to 15 wt% in polyamide 11, polyamide 12 and polyamide 6, according to the ECHA plastic additives initiative mapping, principally in fuel lines and air-brake tubing where the softened polyamide must stay flexible at low temperature.

14. Other bio-based esters: glycerol, polyol and isosorbide esters#

Bio-based plasticizers beyond citrates include glycerol triacetate (triacetin), acetylated castor-oil monoglycerides and polyol esters such as pentaerythritol tetravalerate, used where renewable content or food contact matters. This class answers the question of what a natural plasticizer is: a plasticizer whose backbone comes from a renewable feedstock such as castor oil, glycerol, citric acid or sorbitol.

Triacetin (GTA, CAS 102-76-1) is used at about 10 wt% in cellulose acetate, the typical concentration recorded in the ECHA mapping. COMGHA, sold as Grindsted Soft-N-Safe, is about 80 % bio-based and holds EU food-contact authorisation as FCM 783. Pentaerythritol tetravalerate (PETV, Pevalen from Perstorp) is registered under REACH in the 10,000 to 100,000 tonnes per year band. Glycerol plasticizes thermoplastic starch rather than PVC. Isosorbide diesters are sold as Polysorb ID 37 by Roquette, but the substance identity behind the trade name is not established in our source library, so no CAS number is given here. Renewable options are on bio-based plasticizers.

Which plasticizer types count as non-phthalate?#

Every plasticizer that is not an ortho-phthalate counts as non-phthalate, including terephthalates such as DOTP even though they are chemically phthalate esters. Regulation uses "phthalate" in the narrow sense of a dialkyl ortho-phthalate ester, which is also the US EPA definition, so a "phthalate-free" specification excludes DEHP, DINP, DIDP, DBP, BBP, DIBP and their siblings and admits everything else.

Ten of the 14 classes qualify in full: terephthalates, trimellitates, aliphatic diesters, cyclohexane dicarboxylates, epoxidized oils, polymerics, benzoates, citrates, glycol esters and the bio-based esters, with phosphate esters and sulfonic esters adding two more. None of DOTP, DINCH or TOTM appears on the REACH Candidate List. The Danish Environmental Protection Agency singled out DEHT, DINCH and COMGHA as the three most promising alternatives. Every alternative is listed on non-phthalate plasticizers.

What are the three types of plasticizers?#

No standard defines three types of plasticizers: supplier guides usually sort specialty plasticizers by function into low-temperature, high-temperature and permanent types, next to general-purpose phthalates and terephthalates. In that functional grouping, the low-temperature types are the monomeric aliphatic diesters such as DOA and DOS, the high-temperature types are the trimellitates and pentaerythritol esters, and the permanent types are the polymerics. The 14 chemical types on this page are the classification by chemistry, which is the one used in regulation and in food-contact positive lists.

Which Plasticizer Suits Each Polymer?#

Each polymer takes the plasticizers whose polarity matches its own: PVC accepts almost every ester class, PLA takes citrates such as ATBC, polyamide 11 and 12 take BBSA, PVB takes 3GO, and EPDM rejects esters and uses paraffinic or naphthenic oils. Polarity matching is the first screen because an incompatible plasticizer exudes within days, regardless of how well it performs on paper.

PVC is the exception that makes the family: its carbon-chlorine dipole gives it a solubility parameter close to that of most commercial esters, so all 14 classes work in it at 5 to 65 wt%. The polymers with narrow windows are the ones that define specialist grades. Polylactic acid is miscible with acetyl tributyl citrate up to about 50 wt% and follows the Fox law for glass transition temperature up to 17 wt%, while polyethylene glycol phase-separates above 5 wt%, which is why the citrate wins. Polyamide 11 and 12 take a sulfonamide rather than an ester. Polyvinyl butyral takes glycol esters at 20 to 40 % w/w because the interlayer must stay optically clear and hydrolysis-stable for the life of a windscreen.

Elastomers add a temperature constraint on top of the polarity constraint. Ester plasticizers serve nitrile, chloroprene and chlorosulfonated polyethylene rubber up to 135 °C, chlorinated polyethylene, epichlorohydrin, polyacrylate and hydrogenated nitrile rubber up to 177 °C, and fluoroelastomers up to 232 °C, and those figures are processing levels rather than service guarantees. For food-contact rubber articles, 21 CFR 177.2600 caps total plasticizers at 30 % of the article. The full additive package around the plasticizer is in additives for PVC.

Table T3. Plasticizer by polymer.

Which Plasticizer Suits Each Application?#

The application decides which plasticizer property matters most: low volatility for cable and car interiors, low migration and positive-list status for food contact, a documented safety profile for medical devices and toys, and fast fusion for plastisol flooring. One property dominates in each case, and the class that delivers it is usually the same worldwide.

Wire and cable buys permanence. Trimellitates and the long-chain high-molecular-weight phthalates hold their mass through years at elevated conductor temperature, and the decomposition onset measured by Kaya and co-workers in Polymers in 2026, 262 °C for TOTM against 236 °C for DOA at 50 phr, is the laboratory expression of that. Automotive interiors buy the same permanence for a different reason: a volatile plasticizer condenses on the windscreen, which is why fogging is specified by DIN 75201 and total volatile organic compounds by VDA 278.

Medical devices buy a documented toxicological profile, and the measured plasticizer contents in French PVC medical lines show the substitution in progress: TOTM at 30 to 41 wt%, DEHT at 26.7 to 37.5 wt%, DINCH at 30.2 to 44.3 wt% and DINP at 34.9 to 48.7 wt% (Bernard et al. 2018, PLoS One). DEHP is on its way out of this application under a REACH authorisation whose sunset date for medical devices is 1 July 2030. Food contact buys positive-list status, and flooring buys fusion speed: Klotz and co-workers reported in Environmental Science and Technology in 2024 that DINP substitutes for DEHP in flooring at close to 1:1.

Table T3b. Plasticizer by application.

Head-to-head data for the five substances that carry most of these applications are in the plasticizer comparison: DEHP vs DINP vs DOTP vs DINCH vs TOTM. Each application also has an additive package around the plasticizer, and the two largest are documented in additives for wire and cable compounds and in additives for medical plastics.

How Much Plasticizer Is Used? Dosage in phr and wt%#

Flexible PVC contains 5 to 65 wt% plasticizer, usually written as 30 to more than 100 phr (parts per hundred resin), while PLA, polyamides and PVB take 10 to 40 wt% of their specialist plasticizers. The wide PVC range covers everything from a lightly modified semi-rigid sheet to a soft plastisol, and Wiesinger and co-workers published it in Environmental Science and Technology in 2024 as the working range of the commercial compound population. Across all plastics, Chea and co-workers in 2025, after Hahladakis and co-workers in 2018, put plasticizer content at 10 to 70 wt% of the finished product, and the ECHA plastic additives initiative mapping records 10 to 35 wt% as the typical plasticiser concentration across its 66 plasticiser entries.

Two units run in parallel and must never be mixed. Parts per hundred resin counts additive mass against 100 parts of resin, so a formulation can exceed 100 phr, while weight percent counts additive mass against the whole compound and cannot. The conversion is wt% = phr of the additive divided by total phr, times 100. Conversion rules are on PHR (parts per hundred resin), and any recipe converts in the PHR to weight percent calculator.

Table T4. Plasticizer dosage by use.

Plasticizer efficiency and substitution factors#

Plasticizer efficiency is measured against DEHP = 1.00: a substitution factor of 1.04 for DINP means about 4 % more DINP is needed to reach the same Shore A hardness. The comparison is made at Shore A 80 or at 50 phr, and a lower factor means a more efficient plasticizer. The values below are typical values from a single secondary source (Kanademy) and are published here as typical, not as supplier data.

Table T5. Typical substitution factors against DEHP = 1.00 (typical values, single secondary source: Kanademy).

Worked example: a compound at 50 phr DEHP converted to DINP at equal hardness needs 50 × 1.04 = 52 phr, which raises total compound mass and shifts every other additive concentration expressed in weight percent. Method and full data belong to plasticizer efficiency and substitution factors, and the arithmetic runs in the plasticizer substitution calculator.

How Do You Select a Plasticizer? 8 Criteria#

Select a plasticizer in 8 steps: match its polarity to the polymer, set the hardness target, check fusion speed, check low-temperature flexibility, check permanence, check fire behaviour, screen the regulations in each market, then compare cost-in-use. The order matters, because a candidate that fails step 1 cannot be rescued at step 8.

1. Match polarity to the polymer. Keep the solubility parameters of plasticizer and polymer within about ±1.5 (cal/cm³)^0.5 of each other. PVC accepts polar esters; EPDM rejects them and should take paraffinic or naphthenic oils instead.
2. Set the hardness target and dose through efficiency. Fix the Shore A value first, somewhere in the 50 to 90 range used by flexible PVC, then convert the DEHP-equivalent loading with the substitution factor of the candidate.
3. Check fusion speed for plastisols. Choose a fast fuser such as a dibenzoate where gelation temperature limits line speed, and accept that plastisol viscosity should be monitored during storage.
4. Check low-temperature flexibility. Specify the brittleness point where the part sees cold service. Aliphatic diesters lead the field, and DBEEA reached -40 °C as moulded in nitrile rubber against -33 °C for DOP.
5. Check permanence. Screen volatility, extraction and fogging together, because a compound that passes a heat-ageing test can still fail a windscreen fogging test.
6. Check fire behaviour. Add a phosphate ester where the compound must soften and resist ignition at once, or a chlorinated paraffin with antimony trioxide where cost governs.
7. Screen regulation per market. Run every candidate against the matrix in Table T7 for each market the part is sold into, because a substance that is unrestricted in one jurisdiction can be capped at 0.1 % in another.
8. Compare cost-in-use and supply. Multiply the price per tonne by the substitution factor, then test the supply position: antidumping duties and tariffs moved DOTP and DINP costs in 2025.

The general framework that these 8 steps specialise is on how to select plastic additives.

How Are Plasticizers Tested?#

Plasticizer performance is tested for hardness (ISO 868, ASTM D2240), volatile loss (ASTM D1203, ISO 176), migration (ISO 177), chemical extraction (ASTM D1239) and, for car interiors, fogging (DIN 75201). Each method isolates one of the loss routes or one of the softening effects, so a specification normally names four or five of them together. All methods are indexed under testing plastic additives.

Two details decide whether results can be compared across laboratories. Hardness readings are taken at different dwell times in the two systems, 15 seconds under ISO 868 and ISO 7619-1 against within 1 second under ASTM D2240, and a plasticized PVC compound creeps measurably in that interval. Volatile loss under ASTM D1203-23 runs in two configurations, Method A with direct activated-carbon contact and Method B with a wire cage, and the two do not give the same number on the same compound.

Table T6. Plasticizer test standards.

How Are Plasticizers Regulated?#

Regulation targets low-molecular-weight ortho-phthalates above all: DEHP, DBP, BBP and DIBP have been limited to 0.1 % in the plasticised material of all EU articles since 7 July 2020, while DINP, DIDP, DOTP, DINCH and TOTM are not substances of very high concern. Four instrument families do the work: REACH restriction and authorisation in the EU, food-contact positive lists on both sides of the Atlantic, product-specific toy and electronics rules, and the Stockholm Convention for the chlorinated paraffins. Every jurisdiction is summarised in phthalate restrictions worldwide.

Table T7. Regulatory matrix for 15 plasticizers.

EU rules: REACH, food contact and RoHS#

The EU restricts plasticizers through REACH Annex XVII entries 51 and 52, the Annex XIV authorisation list, the phthalate limits of Regulation (EU) No 10/2011 as amended by Regulation (EU) 2023/1442, and RoHS. Entry 51 caps DEHP, DBP, BBP and DIBP at 0.1 % by weight, individually or combined, in the plasticised material of articles, and Regulation (EU) 2018/2005 extended it from toys and childcare articles to all articles from 7 July 2020, with exemptions that include articles for exclusively industrial or agricultural use, motor vehicles, aircraft, laboratory measuring devices and medical devices. Entry 52 covers DINP, DIDP and DNOP at the same threshold, but only in toys and childcare articles that children can place in the mouth. Entries 51 and 52 are explained on REACH Annex XVII restrictions.

Authorisation runs in parallel with restriction. DEHP holds Annex XIV entry 4, BBP entry 5, DBP entry 6 and DIBP entry 7, all with a latest application date of 21 August 2013 and a sunset date of 21 February 2015, and Regulation (EU) 2021/2045 added endocrine-disrupting properties to those four entries. Fourteen phthalates now sit on the Authorisation List. For DEHP in medical devices, Regulation (EU) 2023/2482 moved the latest application date to 1 January 2029 and the sunset date to 1 July 2030. Each listed phthalate is on the SVHC Candidate List page. The five instruments that govern plasticizers in the EU are listed below.

• REACH Annex XVII, entries 51 and 52: 0.1 % by weight of the plasticised material, all articles since 7 July 2020 for entry 51.
• REACH Annex XIV: authorisation required for DEHP, BBP, DBP and DIBP after the sunset date, with 14 phthalates on the REACH Annex XIV authorisation list.
• Regulation (EU) No 10/2011, as amended by Regulation (EU) 2023/1442, in force 1 August 2023: DEHP 0.6 mg/kg, DBP 0.12 mg/kg and BBP 6 mg/kg, group 26 (DINP plus DIDP) at SML(T) 1.8 mg/kg, group 36 at 0.6 mg/kg DEHP equivalents and group 32 at 60 mg/kg, all published as specific migration limits (SML) under EU 10/2011.
• RoHS, Delegated Directive (EU) 2015/863: DEHP, BBP, DBP and DIBP at 0.1 % in homogeneous materials from 22 July 2019, and from 22 July 2021 for categories 8 and 9, under RoHS and plastic additives.
• Toy Safety Regulation (EU) 2025/2509: bans CMR substances and endocrine disruptors in toys and applies from 1 August 2030, alongside the medical-device rules covered under plastic additives in medical devices and the EU Toy Safety Regulation.

ECHA published its PVC investigation report in November 2023, covering 63 PVC additives and recommending a REACH restriction on ortho-phthalate plasticisers, which is the pipeline item that would extend entry 51 further.

US rules: FDA, CPSIA, TSCA and Proposition 65#

In the US, only 8 ortho-phthalates remain authorised as food-contact plasticizers since the FDA final rule of 20 May 2022, and 8 phthalates are limited to 0.1 % in children's toys and child care articles under 16 CFR 1307. The FDA rule (87 FR 31080) revoked 23 phthalates and left DINP, DIDP, DEHP, DCHP, BPBG, DEP, EPEG and DIOP authorised as plasticizers. On 27 May 2026 the FDA proposed a cumulative-assessment group covering DEHP, DCHP, DIOP and DINP under docket FDA-2026-N-5776, with a comment period extended to 26 July 2026; that action is a proposal, not a ban. The four US instruments are listed below.

• FDA food-contact regulations: 21 CFR 178.3740 sets the use limits, including DINP at up to 43 % of vinyl chloride polymers, and 21 CFR 181.27 records the prior sanctions, both mapped on FDA food contact rules.
• CPSIA, 16 CFR 1307: more than 0.1 % is prohibited in children's toys and child care articles. DEHP, DBP and BBP are permanently prohibited under 1307.3(a); DINP, DIBP, DPENP, DHEXP and DCHP were added under 1307.3(b) from 25 April 2018; DIDP and DNOP are not restricted. Scope and testing exemptions belong to the CPSIA phthalate limits.
• TSCA: the final risk evaluations for BBP, DBP, DCHP, DEHP and DIBP were published in the Federal Register on 6 January 2026 (91 FR 373). For DIDP (6 January 2025, 90 FR 638) and DINP (15 January 2025, 90 FR 3828) the unreasonable risk is to workers only. Follow-up rulemaking is tracked under TSCA and plastic additives.
• Proposition 65: DEHP was listed for cancer on 1 January 1988 and for developmental and male reproductive toxicity on 24 October 2003, DBP and BBP on 2 December 2005, DIDP on 20 April 2007 and DINP for cancer on 20 December 2013, while DIBP and DCHP are not listed under California Proposition 65.

Other jurisdictions and the Stockholm Convention#

Outside the EU and US, toy rules in Canada, Japan and China cap phthalates at 0.1 % or 1,000 mg/kg, and the Stockholm Convention bans short-chain chlorinated paraffins and lists medium-chain ones from 16 December 2026. Four instruments cover the rest of the world for practical formulation purposes.

• Canada, SOR/2016-188, in force 22 June 2016: DEHP, DBP and BBP at up to 1,000 mg/kg in the vinyl of toys and child care articles, and DINP, DIDP and DNOP at the same level in mouthable parts. Detail is on Canadian regulations for plastic additives.
• Japan, MHLW Notification 336, issued 6 September 2010 and applicable from 6 September 2011: DEHP, DBP and BBP at up to 0.1 % by mass in designated toys, DINP, DIDP and DNOP at up to 0.1 % in mouthable parts, and DINP barred from PVC toy materials.
• China, GB 6675-2025: the revised toy safety standard applies from 1 November 2026 with tightened phthalate requirements. The exact limits are not established in this reference.
• Stockholm Convention: SCCP has been in Annex A since 2017 (decision SC-8/11), and MCCP was added at COP-12 in 2025 (decision SC-12/10), entering into force on 16 December 2026 for Parties that do not opt out. EU implementation is covered under POPs in plastics.

Who Makes Plasticizers? Market Size and Manufacturers#

About 8.4 million tonnes of plasticizers are consumed worldwide each year (European Plasticisers), made by producers such as BASF, ExxonMobil, Evonik Oxeno, Eastman, Lanxess and Hanwha plus Chinese producers of DOP and DOTP. Wikipedia records 7.5 million tonnes for 2017, and Ceresana estimated more than 8 million tonnes in 2023, so the figure is stable within the spread of the available sources. Europe alone consumes well over 1.3 million tonnes per year. S&P Global Commodity Insights forecasts growth of 2.3 % per year in its Chemical Economics Handbook of December 2024. Every producer is profiled in plasticizer manufacturers and suppliers.

Table T8. Plasticizer producers and brand lines.

Trade policy moved prices more than demand did in 2025. The Chinese DOP price fell by 1,700 to 1,750 RMB per tonne between January and November 2025, Chinese DOP imports fell 42 % and exports rose 35 % over January to September 2025, the United States applied antidumping duties on DOTP from Turkey, Malaysia, Taiwan and Poland, and a 15 % US tariff hit DINP from Evonik Oxeno. Deza added DINP capacity in 2025, and ResourceWise describes the 2026 outlook as ample supply against flat demand. Price drivers are on plasticizer prices, and capacity and trade data belong to the plasticizers market.

Complete List of Plasticizers: All 56 Substance Pages#

The complete list below gives all 56 plasticizers covered on this site, grouped by the 14 types, with CAS number, type and main host polymer. Substances whose own page is not yet published appear here as plain text and become links on their publication day.

Table T9. All 56 plasticizer substances, in the order of the 14 types.

Every substance above is also in the plastic additives database, with full identity, dosage and regulatory records.

Are Plasticizers Harmful?#

Some plasticizers are classified as harmful, such as the reproductive toxicants DEHP, DBP, BBP and DIBP, while high-molecular-weight and non-phthalate plasticizers such as DINP, DOTP and DINCH carry no harmonised EU classification. DEHP holds the harmonised CLP classification H360FD (may damage fertility, may damage the unborn child) and is an IARC Group 2B agent, while DBP, BBP and DIBP hold H360Df. The ECHA Risk Assessment Committee concluded on 9 March 2018 that DINP warrants no classification for reproductive toxicity, and DOTP, DINCH and TOTM are absent from the REACH Candidate List.

The toxicological endpoint behind the restrictions is the rat phthalate syndrome, a cluster of male reproductive effects comprising reduced fetal testosterone, hypospadias, cryptorchidism, shortened anogenital distance and nipple retention. Exposure and human health data are on phthalates: health effects.

Do plasticizers leach out of plastic over time?#

Yes: plasticizers are not chemically bound to the polymer, so they slowly migrate to the surface and into fats, oils and solvents, which is why the EU caps DEHP migration into food at 0.6 mg/kg. Fankhauser-Noti and co-workers measured ESBO in baby food from glass jars with PVC gasket seals at below 1.5 to 50.8 mg/kg, with a mean of 11.9 mg/kg, which is the same mechanism at work through a sealing gasket.

Leaching is slow enough to persist as a recycling problem. Klotz and co-workers reported in Environmental Science and Technology in 2024 that DEHP stays above 0.1 wt% in recycled flooring for decades unless it is actively removed. That persistence is the subject of legacy additives in recycled plastic.

Which plasticizers are restricted as toxic?#

The plasticizers restricted as toxic are the low-molecular-weight ortho-phthalates DEHP, DBP, BBP and DIBP, plus short-chain chlorinated paraffins, which are banned as persistent organic pollutants. REACH Annex XVII entry 51 caps the four phthalates at 0.1 % in the plasticised material of all EU articles, and SCCP has been in Annex A of the Stockholm Convention since 2017. MCCP follows into Annex A on 16 December 2026.

One authorised use survives on a timetable: DEHP in medical devices, whose REACH sunset date is 1 July 2030. A "phthalate-free" claim on a finished article refers to the ortho-phthalates only, which is why the label means less than it appears to; what the claim covers is set out on phthalate-free plastics, and the endocrine-activity question behind it belongs to endocrine disruptors in plastics.

Plasticizers outside plastics: concrete, pharmaceuticals and food#

Concrete superplasticizers, tablet-coating plasticizers and food additives share the name but are outside this plastics reference. Triethyl citrate (E1505) and triacetin (E1518) appear on this page only for their use in plastics, not for their food-additive or pharmaceutical function.

A short history of plasticizers#

Plasticizers are older than most plastics: camphor-plasticized cellulose nitrate was patented by Hyatt in 1870 and named celluloid in 1872. Plasticized PVC followed in 1926, when Waldo Semon at B.F. Goodrich found that adding a high-boiling ester turned an intractable resin into a flexible material.

The commodity esters arrived within a decade: dibutyl phthalate was in use by 1933, and DEHP was manufactured in Japan from about 1933 and in the United States from 1939. Ninety years later DEHP is still the single largest-volume plasticizer and also the most heavily restricted, which is the arc the rest of this page describes. The wider story is on history of plastic additives.

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