Irganox 1010 (Antioxidant 1010): Properties, Uses in Plastics and Regulatory Status

Irganox 1010 (also sold as Antioxidant 1010; CAS 6683-19-8) is a sterically hindered phenol used as a primary antioxidant in polyolefins, engineering plastics and elastomers, typically at 0.05 to 0.4 wt% in polyethylene and polypropylene. Because four phenolic groups sit on one pentaerythritol core, the molecule is far heavier than a single-phenol stabilizer, which raises the question of what that mass buys the formulator.

The compliance answer sits in four instruments. Irganox 1010 is registered under REACH (Regulation (EC) No 1907/2006, ECHA dossier 15308), is absent from the SVHC Candidate List as last updated on 4 February 2026, is authorised for EU food-contact plastics as FCM substance 496 under Regulation (EU) No 10/2011 without an individual specific migration limit, and is capped by the US Food and Drug Administration at 0.5 % of the polymer under 21 CFR 178.2010 (status 23 September 2026). Irganox 1010 is one of 43 antioxidant pages in our directory of plastic additives, each carrying the same identity, dosage and regulatory fields.

This page holds the data-sheet view and the compliance view together: identity and equivalent grades, the hydrogen-donation mechanism, the physical constants, the dosage band per polymer, the applications, the tests that verify a package, the ratios used with Irgafos 168 and with thioesters, a dated regulatory matrix, the comparison with Irganox 1076, 1330, 3114 and BHT, and the producers who sell the same CAS number under their own names.

Table T1. Irganox 1010 identity card.

Footnote: identity data from PubChem CID 64819 and EPA CompTox DTXSID1027633; physical data from the BASF Irganox 1010 technical data sheet of October 2022; regulatory entries from the consolidated text of Regulation (EU) No 10/2011 and from eCFR 21 CFR 178.2010. Status as of 23 September 2026.

What Is Irganox 1010 (Antioxidant 1010)?#

Irganox 1010 is the tetraester of pentaerythritol with 3-(3,5-di-tert-butyl-4-hydroxyphenyl)propionic acid: four sterically hindered phenol groups carried on one central carbon skeleton. The trade name covers a single substance, CAS 6683-19-8, whose chemical class is a hindered phenol and, more precisely, a tetrafunctional propionate ester. Its function in a polymer is threefold: primary antioxidant, long-term thermal stabilizer and processing co-stabilizer. Which substance does the generic label Antioxidant 1010 cover? The same one, under a different commercial convention.

Irganox 1010 is made in two steps. A Michael addition of methyl acrylate to 2,6-di-tert-butylphenol builds the propionate arm, and a transesterification with pentaerythritol attaches four of those arms to the central alcohol; the commercial product may contain low levels of the tri-ester. As a primary antioxidant that interrupts the radical chain of thermo-oxidative degradation, Irganox 1010 belongs to the family of antioxidants for plastics, where the hub compares every class, from hindered phenols and aminic antioxidants to phosphites, thioesters and carbon-radical scavengers.

What is the chemical structure of Irganox 1010?#

Irganox 1010 has a symmetrical structure: a central pentaerythritol unit whose four hydroxyl groups are esterified with four 3-(3,5-di-tert-butyl-4-hydroxyphenyl)propionic acid arms, giving the formula C73H108O12 and a molecular weight of 1177.6 g/mol. Each arm ends in a phenol ring that carries two tert-butyl groups in the 3 and 5 positions, flanking the hydroxyl in the 4 position. Those two bulky neighbours are what the word "hindered" describes: they shield the O-H group and stabilize the radical left behind after the hydrogen is donated. The featured structure above marks the pentaerythritol core and the four propionate arms, the reason the substance is also written as pentaerythritol tetrakis(3,5-di-tert-butyl-4-hydroxyhydrocinnamate).

Why do four phenolic groups on one molecule matter?#

Four phenolic groups on one heavy molecule give Irganox 1010 two properties that a single-phenol stabilizer cannot have: an extrapolated vapour pressure of 7 x 10^-10 Pa at 20 °C (68 °F) and a high resistance to extraction. Primary antioxidants generally sit between 300 and 1000 g/mol, and at the low end of that range volatility during processing and migration during service both remove active substance from the part. At 1177.6 g/mol, Irganox 1010 sits above the band.

Molar phenol content is the second consequence. Irganox 1010 carries 4 phenolic groups on 1177.6 g/mol, or 3.40 mmol of phenol per gram; Irganox 1076 carries 1 on 530.9 g/mol, or 1.88 mmol/g, so Irganox 1010 delivers about 1.8 times as many phenolic groups per kilogram of additive. This is a structural calculation and not a performance ranking, because no equivalence factor between the two grades sits in our source library. Molecular weight is the dividing line among phenolic antioxidants (hindered phenols), from BHT at 220.35 g/mol to Irganox 1010 at 1177.6 g/mol.

Is Irganox 1010 the same as Antioxidant 1010, Songnox 1010 and ADK STAB AO-60?#

Yes: Irganox 1010, Antioxidant 1010, Songnox 1010, ADK STAB AO-60, Anox 20, Dovernox 10 and Evernox 10 are trade names for the same substance, CAS 6683-19-8. "Irganox" is BASF's brand, inherited from Ciba, and "Antioxidant 1010" is the generic name Chinese and Korean producers use for the same chemistry, because they reuse the original grade numbers rather than invent new ones.

Equivalence here means one CAS number, not one product. Purity, particle form and the presence or absence of a co-additive differ between suppliers, so buyers compare the certificate of analysis before treating two grades as interchangeable, as Table T7 below sets out.

Is Irganox 1010 a heat stabilizer or an antioxidant?#

Irganox 1010 is an antioxidant, not a PVC heat stabilizer: it slows thermo-oxidative degradation by trapping peroxy radicals, while PVC heat stabilizers scavenge the hydrogen chloride released when PVC dehydrochlorinates. Suppliers and search engines often call it a heat stabilizer because it protects the polymer during hot processing. In additive terminology its role is long-term thermal stabilization, abbreviated LTTS, and the term heat stabilizer belongs to the calcium-zinc, organotin and lead systems used in PVC.

How Does Irganox 1010 Protect Polymers?#

Irganox 1010 works by donating a hydrogen atom from its phenolic O-H to a peroxy radical (ROO• + ArOH gives ROOH + ArO•), which stops one propagation cycle of the autoxidation chain. The phenoxy radical that remains is resonance-stabilized by the two ortho tert-butyl groups, so it is too unreactive to start a new chain, and it ends as non-radical products, typically quinone methides. Irganox 1010 is consumed sacrificially, so the antioxidant level in a part falls over its service life.

What is the chain that this reaction interrupts? Polymer autoxidation runs in 4 steps, set out by J. L. Bolland and G. Gee in the 1940s from rubber and lipid oxidation work. The process is autocatalytic: oxygen uptake follows a sigmoidal curve with an induction period, and the induction period is what a stabilizer extends.

1. Initiation: heat, shear, catalyst residues or light generate the first alkyl radicals R•.
2. Propagation: R• + O2 forms a peroxy radical ROO• at a diffusion-controlled rate of 1 x 10^7 to 1 x 10^9 L mol^-1 s^-1, and ROO• + RH abstracts a hydrogen to give a hydroperoxide ROOH and a new R•.
3. Chain branching: ROOH homolysis splits into two new radicals and multiplies the number of chains.
4. Termination: radicals combine to give inactive products, or a stabilizer traps them first.

How many radicals does one phenol group trap? The stoichiometric factor of about 2 peroxyl radicals per phenolic group was measured for alpha-tocopherol, PMHC, BHA and BHT, not for Irganox 1010, and no rate constant for Irganox 1010 sits in our source library. The four steps are set out with rate data on polymer oxidation and antioxidant mechanisms.

What is the difference between a primary and a secondary antioxidant?#

A primary antioxidant such as Irganox 1010 traps radicals, while a secondary antioxidant such as Irgafos 168 destroys the hydroperoxides those radicals leave behind, converting the phosphite to the corresponding phosphate. The two classes act at different points of the same cycle, which is why they are dosed together rather than chosen between.

• Primary antioxidants, including hindered phenols such as Irganox 1010, 1076 and 1330 and the aminic antioxidants, are chain-breaking: they donate hydrogen to ROO• and end the propagation step.
• Secondary antioxidants, including phosphites such as Irgafos 168, phosphonites and thioesters such as DSTDP and DLTDP, are hydroperoxide decomposers: P(OR)3 + ROOH gives O=P(OR)3 + ROH, a non-radical route that removes the branching source.

Reactivity inside the second class is not uniform. The order runs phosphonites, then alkyl phosphites, then aryl phosphites, then hindered aryl phosphites, and that order within phosphite and phosphonite antioxidants decides which secondary antioxidant suits a given melt temperature.

Why phenolic antioxidants can cause yellowing and gas fading#

The reaction products of a spent hindered phenol are quinone methides, which are coloured, so phenolic antioxidants can contribute to yellowing under NOx exposure, an effect the industry calls gas fading. BASF and its distributors describe Irganox 1010 as a non-discolouring stabilizer, and that supplier description holds for normal processing; it does not cover exposure to nitrogen oxides. BHT shows the effect most clearly, since its gas-fading product is a stilbenequinone.

Two routes avoid the problem. The first is a phenol-free system based on a hydroxylamine plus a phosphite, and the second is the addition of N,N-dibenzylhydroxylamine, which prevents gas fading of polypropylene that contains a phenolic antioxidant. Phenolics are also unsuitable for parts cured in direct gas-fired ovens, where Irgafos 168 is the usable stabilizer. The mechanisms behind yellowing, pinking and gas fading are set out with the fix for each cause.

What Are the Physical and Chemical Properties of Irganox 1010?#

Irganox 1010 is a white free-flowing powder with a melting range of 110 to 125 °C (230 to 257 °F), a density of 1.15 g/mL at 20 °C (68 °F) and a flash point of 297 °C (566.6 °F). The melting range, not a melting point, is the correct form for this substance, and the low vapour pressure of 7 x 10^-10 Pa at 20 °C (68 °F), an extrapolated value, is the property that keeps the stabiliser in the melt during processing between 150 and 320 °C (302 and 608 °F).

Table T2. Irganox 1010 physical and chemical properties.

Solubility splits the solvent list into two groups. Irganox 1010 dissolves freely in acetone, chloroform, ethyl acetate and methylene chloride, at 47 to 71 g per 100 g of solution, and poorly in ethanol, methanol and n-hexane, at 0.3 to 1.5 g per 100 g. That split decides which solvent extracts the antioxidant quantitatively for the analytical determination of residual stabilizer, and which liquid a finished part can meet in service without losing its protection.

Product forms: powder, FF and DF granules#

Irganox 1010 ships as a white powder and as low-dust granules or pastilles, the FF and DF grades, with a bulk density of 530 to 630 g/L. Our source library records the letter codes but not what each letter stands for, so this page does not expand them. Dust and feeding behaviour depend on the additive product forms a supplier offers, and a pastille that meters cleanly into a gravimetric feeder is worth more to a compounder than a powder of identical assay.

Which Polymers Use Irganox 1010, and at What Dosage?#

Irganox 1010 is dosed at 0.05 to 0.4 wt% in polyolefins such as polyethylene, polypropylene, polybutene and ethylene-vinyl acetate, which is the range BASF gives in its technical data sheet of October 2022. Outside the polyolefin family, the same data sheet gives 0.2 to 1 wt% for hot-melt adhesives and 0.1 to 0.5 wt% for synthetic tackifier resins. For plastic products as a class, Hahladakis and colleagues (2018), cited by Chea and colleagues (2025), put total antioxidant content between 0.05 and 3 wt%.

How do ppm and weight percent relate in a stabilizer recipe? The conversion is arithmetic: 1,000 ppm equals 0.1 wt%, so a 0.2 wt% dose is 2,000 ppm, and a 4 % antioxidant masterbatch let down at 5 % delivers the same 2,000 ppm of active substance. Polyolefin recipes use wt% and ppm rather than PHR (parts per hundred resin), which stays the convention for PVC and rubber compounds where the resin is the reference quantity.

Table T3. Irganox 1010 dosage by polymer and matrix.

Footnote: the FDA percentages in the last-but-one row are legal maxima under 21 CFR 178.2010, not recommended dosages. The recycled and study rows report what one supplier and one peer-reviewed group added, not a general recommendation.

Irganox 1010 in polypropylene#

Polypropylene is the largest single market for Irganox 1010: its tertiary carbon-hydrogen bonds oxidise faster than the secondary bonds in polyethylene, and the resulting chain scission shows up directly as a higher melt flow rate. Mordor Intelligence puts polypropylene at 34.68 % of plastic antioxidant revenue in 2025. Commodity PP grades leave the reactor with base stabilization below 400 ppm of phenolic antioxidant, a level chosen to survive pelletising, not to carry a part through years of service.

The standard package adds a second and a third component. A phenol plus a phosphite at a phosphite to phenol ratio of 1:1 to 2:1 covers both the melt and the service life, and an acid scavenger, usually calcium stearate or hydrotalcite, neutralises the catalyst residues that would otherwise attack the stabilizer. The full package for PP, including acid scavengers and gas-fade-resistant systems, is on antioxidants for polypropylene.

Nucleating agents, clarifiers and light stabilizers complete the recipe on additives for polypropylene (PP).

Irganox 1010 in polyethylene#

In polyethylene, Irganox 1010 is a pipe and film stabilizer: HDPE pressure-pipe compounds combine a high-molecular-weight phenol such as Irganox 1010 or Irganox 1330 with a phosphite to reach the required oxidative induction time. Polyethylene degrades differently from polypropylene: chain scission competes with crosslinking, and in LLDPE and HDPE film the visible result is gels rather than a clean drop in viscosity, with chromium-catalysed HDPE the most prone to crosslinking. LLDPE film packages therefore run Irganox 1076 or Irganox 1010 together with Irgafos 168.

Pipe sets the numeric requirement. A PE pressure-pipe compound must reach an oxidative induction time of at least 20 min at 210 °C (410 °F) under EN 12201-1 and ISO 4427-1. Disinfectant chemistry is the harder case: in water containing 4 ppm of chlorine dioxide at 90 °C (194 °F), the antioxidant is consumed about 4 times faster than in chlorinated water, which is why chlorine and chlorine-dioxide resistance is one of the selection criteria on additives for plastic pipes. Film and pipe grades need different packages, compared side by side on antioxidants for polyethylene.

Irganox 1010 in engineering plastics and elastomers#

Irganox 1010 also stabilizes polyacetals, polyamides, polyurethanes, polyesters, PVC, styrenics and ABS, and elastomers such as butyl rubber (IIR), SBS, SEBS, EPM and EPDM. No grade-specific dosage for Irganox 1010 in any of these polymers sits in our source library, so this page names the polymers and gives no number for them.

Dedicated grades exist where the polymer chemistry demands one. Polyamide uses Irganox 1098 at 0.05 to 1.0 wt%, with 0.05 to 0.2 wt% typical, and copper halide systems carry long-term heat ageing above 180 °C (356 °F); polyacetals use Irganox 245. In ABS, 0.2 m% of Irganox 1076 is described as an industrially attractive level, a figure that belongs to Irganox 1076 and is not transferred here to Irganox 1010.

Irganox 1010 in recycled polyolefins#

Recycled polyolefins are restabilized with Irganox 1010 and Irgafos 168 together, at 0.1 to 0.3 wt% of the binary blend in Songwon's multipass trials on recycled polypropylene at 250 °C (482 °F) and recycled HDPE at 220 °C (428 °F). Restabilization, as defined by Rainer Pfaendner at Fraunhofer LBF (Polymer Degradation and Stability 203 (2022) 110082), means adding phenol and phosphite packages, with HALS and UV absorbers where the application needs them, to compensate both for the antioxidant the first life consumed and for the oxidised groups it left behind.

Published doses sit in the same band. In a study published in Materials in 2025 (18, 1640), a polypropylene recyclate was restabilized with 500 ppm of primary antioxidant AO-1010 plus 1000 ppm of secondary antioxidant AO-168. Two findings qualify the picture: a PP regranulate with no added antioxidant can still hold more than 150 ppm of intact Irgafos 168, enough for 1 to 2 further processing steps, and in closed-loop recycling with antioxidant added at every cycle the antioxidant level can build up rather than fall, as Knoben and colleagues reported in 2025. Dose ranges and measurement routes are set out on restabilization of recycled plastics.

Recycled content targets under the Packaging and Packaging Waste Regulation drive the demand for this chemistry, as explained on additives for recycled plastics.

What Is Irganox 1010 Used For? Applications in Plastics#

Irganox 1010 is used in 5 application areas: pipes, films, fibres and moulded goods in polyethylene and polypropylene; engineering plastics; elastomers; hot-melt adhesives and tackifier resins; and solvent-based coatings. The first three are plastics applications. The last two sit outside the border of this reference and are named once, in the supplementary section at the end of this page.

• Pipes, films, fibres and moulded goods in polyethylene and polypropylene, the volume core of the grade.
• Engineering plastics, including polyacetals, polyamides, polyurethanes, polyesters, PVC, styrenics and ABS.
• Elastomers, including butyl rubber (IIR), SBS, SEBS, EPM and EPDM.
• Hot-melt adhesives and synthetic tackifier resins, at 0.2 to 1 wt% and 0.1 to 0.5 wt%.
• Solvent-based coatings, where the same low volatility applies.

Pipe, film, fibre and moulded goods#

The core plastics use of Irganox 1010 is in polyethylene and polypropylene pipe, film, fibre and moulded goods, where it carries long-term thermal stability while a phosphite handles the melt-processing step. Pipe is the most demanding of the four, because the compound satisfies an oxidative induction time requirement at delivery and then holds performance through decades of contact with water and disinfectant. Film is the highest-throughput case, where LLDPE grades run Irganox 1076 or Irganox 1010 with Irgafos 168 and the failure mode is gels rather than embrittlement.

Fibres and nonwovens are the exception a formulator plans around. Polypropylene fibre is stored where nitrogen oxides reach the surface, and a phenol-stabilized fibre yellows under that exposure, so the gas-fade-resistant routes are a hydroxylamine plus a phosphite, or an isocyanurate phenol such as Irganox 3114. Moulded goods sit between the two extremes, where wall thickness slows oxygen diffusion.

Food packaging#

Irganox 1010 is one of the antioxidants most often found in commercial polyethylene, polypropylene and PVC packaging, usually alongside Irganox 1076, Irgafos 168 and the phosphate formed when Irgafos 168 is consumed. That finding comes from an analytical survey of commercial packaging published in Polymer Degradation and Stability (PubMed 17381127), and it describes what is in the material, not what is permitted.

Permission is set separately on each side of the Atlantic. The EU lists Irganox 1010 as FCM substance 496 with no individual specific migration limit, so only the overall migration limit applies, while the US caps it at 0.5 % of the polymer under 21 CFR 178.2010. Which antioxidants appear in commercial packaging, and which of them carry an SML, is surveyed on additives for food packaging.

How Is the Performance of Irganox 1010 Measured?#

The standard performance test for Irganox 1010 is the oxidative induction time: a DSC run that heats the sample under nitrogen, switches to oxygen at a constant temperature between 190 and 220 °C (374 and 428 °F), and records the time until oxidation starts. Two standards describe the method, ISO 11357-6:2018 and ASTM D3895-19, and they are not technically equivalent, so a result is quoted with its standard and its test temperature. The high-pressure variant, HP-OIT to ASTM D5885, runs at 3.4 MPa of oxygen and 150 °C (302 °F) and is used only where the standard OIT exceeds 30 min.

No OIT value measured on Irganox 1010 alone sits in our source library, and none is stated here: OIT is a property of a compound, not of an additive. ASTM D3895 makes the same point in its Note 2, where a volatile antioxidant can give a low OIT in the test and still perform in service. Method, temperature choice and the difference between the ISO and the ASTM version are covered on oxidative induction time (OIT).

Table T4. Performance tests for an Irganox 1010 package.

OIT, melt flow rate and yellowness index#

Three numbers tell a compounder whether the antioxidant package is working: the oxidative induction time, the melt flow rate after repeated extrusion passes and the yellowness index. Each is measured on the compound, and each moves in a different direction when the stabilizer runs out.

• Oxidative induction time or temperature rises with an effective package. Knoben and colleagues (2025) measured an oxidation induction temperature of 198 °C (388.4 °F) for a closed-loop recycled polypropylene without antioxidant against 257 °C (494.6 °F) with antioxidant; that figure is a temperature, not a time.
• Melt flow rate drifts when chain scission outruns the stabilizer, upward in polypropylene and less predictably in polyethylene, where crosslinking competes. One supplier reports that unstabilized polypropylene shifts its MFR by 20 to 50 % after a single extrusion pass at 230 °C (446 °F); that figure is not backed by a peer-reviewed source in our source library. Multipass trials report the change in melt flow rate (MFR / MFI / MVR) after each pass.
• Yellowness index records the colour drift the spent phenol can cause, quantified as yellowness index to ASTM E313-20 (R2025); the older ASTM D1925 was withdrawn and is not used.

How Does Irganox 1010 Interact with Other Additives?#

Irganox 1010 is almost never used alone: the standard polyolefin package pairs it with a phosphite, and BASF sells the two pre-blended as Irganox B 215 and Irganox B 225. Thioesters are the third partner, used where long-term heat ageing dominates, and the combinations that need care involve the thioester rather than the phenol. Patent practice puts the whole phenol to phosphite window between about 20:1 and 1:10, far wider than any commercial blend uses.

Irganox 1010 and Irgafos 168: the standard phenol/phosphite package#

Irganox B 215 is 67 % Irgafos 168 and 33 % Irganox 1010, and Irganox B 225 is a 1:1 blend of the same two substances. Expressed consistently as phosphite to phenol, B 215 is 2:1 and B 225 is 1:1, and polyolefin recipes built from the two separate products sit in the same 1:1 to 2:1 window, with the wider phosphite to phenol range running to 4:1. An acid scavenger, calcium stearate or hydrotalcite, usually completes the package.

The division of labour explains the ratio. The phosphite removes the hydroperoxides the phenol leaves behind and also reduces coloured quinoid species, which is why a phosphite-rich blend protects colour during extrusion while the phenol carries the service life. The phosphite half of the package is Irgafos 168 (Antioxidant 168), used at 0.05 to 0.2 wt% in polyolefins. Ready-made ratios and their supplier equivalents are tabulated under antioxidant blends and synergy.

Irganox 1010 and thioesters (DSTDP, DLTDP)#

Adding a thioester changes the balance: in a study by Allen and colleagues (Journal of Vinyl and Additive Technology, 2021), a 20:80 ratio of Irganox 1010 to DSTDP gave the best long-term thermal stability in polypropylene at 150 °C (302 °F), while an 80:20 ratio was better for processing stabilization. The two optima point in opposite directions, so the ratio follows the failure mode the part actually faces.

Thioethers work by being oxidised themselves, to sulfoxides and then to sulfones, and that route is effective mainly for long-term thermal stability at about 100 to 150 °C (212 to 302 °F) rather than for the few minutes a compound spends in an extruder. DSTDP (distearyl thiodipropionate) is the thioester used in the 20:80 combination, and DLTDP, its lauryl analogue, is the second common choice.

Which combinations need care?#

Two combinations need checking before a recipe is fixed: thioesters antagonise hindered amine light stabilizers, because the acidic sulfur decomposition products of the thioester deactivate the HALS. No antagonism between Irganox 1010 itself and a HALS is recorded in our source library, and none is claimed here. The antagonism matters wherever hindered amine light stabilizers (HALS) and thioesters meet in the same recipe, most often in outdoor polypropylene.

The second case is the process rather than the recipe. Phenolic antioxidants are unsuitable for parts cured or dried in direct gas-fired ovens, where the nitrogen oxides in the burner gas discolour them, and Irgafos 168 is the stabilizer that tolerates that environment. Fillers form a third, quieter interaction: talc and calcium carbonate adsorb antioxidant and carry metal impurities, so a filled compound needs a higher dose than an unfilled one at the same service temperature.

What Is the Regulatory Status of Irganox 1010?#

Irganox 1010 is registered under REACH, is not a Substance of Very High Concern, is authorised for EU food-contact plastics as FCM substance 496 without an individual migration limit, and is limited by the US Food and Drug Administration to 0.5 % of the polymer under 21 CFR 178.2010 (status 23 September 2026). Every negative status below carries the date of the list it was checked against.

Table T5. Irganox 1010 regulatory matrix, as of 23 September 2026.

Registration is the entry ticket and not a safety verdict. Registration, evaluation and the Candidate List process are explained on REACH and plastic additives, including what a registration dossier does and does not say about a substance.

Is Irganox 1010 REACH registered, and is it an SVHC?#

Yes, Irganox 1010 is registered under REACH (Regulation (EC) No 1907/2006, ECHA dossier 15308), and no, it is not a Substance of Very High Concern: it is absent from the 253-entry Candidate List as last updated on 4 February 2026. The next scheduled update is January 2027.

Other antioxidants show that the family is not uniformly clear. Antioxidant 2246 (DBMC, CAS 119-47-1) has been on the SVHC Candidate List since 17 January 2022 as toxic for reproduction under Article 57(c), and TNPP has been on it since 16 July 2019; Irganox 1010 has never been added.

Is Irganox 1010 allowed in food-contact plastics?#

Yes, in the EU: Irganox 1010 is listed in Annex I of Regulation (EU) No 10/2011 as FCM substance 496 (Ref 71680), and because no specific migration limit is set for it, only the overall migration limit of 10 mg/dm2 applies. For articles intended for infants and young children, that overall limit is expressed as 60 mg/kg of food.

No SML does not mean no limit. The substance was assessed and no individual limit was judged necessary, while the overall migration limit, the generic limit of 60 mg/kg and the principle that an additive is used only in the amount reasonably required for its technical effect all continue to bind. The comparison inside the same family makes the point: Irganox 1076 carries an SML of 6 mg/kg as FCM 433 and Irgafos 168 carries none as FCM 671. The overall migration limit and what a missing SML means are explained on EU 10/2011.

Every antioxidant SML and every FDA cap sits in one table on food contact antioxidants.

Is Irganox 1010 FDA approved?#

There is no FDA approval as such: Irganox 1010 is listed in 21 CFR 178.2010 as an antioxidant and stabilizer for polymers, at a maximum of 0.5 % of the polymer unless a specific entry says otherwise. The specific entries raise the cap to 1.0 % for pressure-sensitive adhesives, can-end cements and hydrocarbon resins, and lower it to 0.1 % for petroleum wax; adhesives are additionally covered by 21 CFR 175.105.

The section has two parts, and both bind: paragraph (a) limits the quantity to the amount reasonably required to produce the intended technical effect, and paragraph (b) carries the substance list with its polymer-specific limitations. The structure of 21 CFR 178.2010, including the "amount reasonably required" rule, is set out in full on its own page.

Is Irganox 1010 Safe? Health, Safety and Environmental Profile#

Irganox 1010 has no harmonised hazard classification under the EU CLP Regulation (EC) No 1272/2008, and most companies that notified it to ECHA report that it does not meet the GHS hazard criteria. Those notifications are self-classifications rather than an agreed EU position, and a minority of notifiers do classify it.

The three data points that describe the profile are listed below.

• Classification: no harmonised entry in CLP Annex VI; the C&L notifications aggregated by PubChem are mostly "not classified", with some notifiers listing H302 (harmful if swallowed), H315 (causes skin irritation) and H412 (harmful to aquatic life with long lasting effects).
• Exposure volume: the US Environmental Protection Agency records a production and import volume of 40 to under 55 million lb per year for the 2020 to 2023 Chemical Data Reporting cycle.
• Published assessments: no toxicological reference value for Irganox 1010, such as a NOAEL, an ADI or a cumulative estimated daily intake, is recorded in our source library.

The neighbouring grades do have published numbers. Neal-Kluever and colleagues (2015) published an FDA re-evaluation of Irganox 1076 with a NOAEL of 64 mg/kg bw/day, a CEDI of 4.5 mg/person/day and a margin of exposure of about 850, and Markley and colleagues (2023) published one for Irgafos 168 with an ADI of 1 mg/kg bw/day against a CEDI of 0.09 mg/kg bw/day. Neither set of values belongs to Irganox 1010, and neither is transferred to it here.

What happens to Irganox 1010 in the polymer: migration and degradation products#

Irganox 1010 is consumed as it works, and its reaction products are quinone methides rather than the original phenol, which is why analytical surveys of packaging usually find a mix of intact antioxidant and transformation products. No migration measurement for Irganox 1010 itself sits in our source library, so this page names the test route instead of quoting a figure: extraction into the food simulants of Regulation (EU) No 10/2011 under the conditions of Annex V, followed by chromatographic determination.

The best-documented transformation products in the same packaging come from the phosphite, not from the phenol. Irgafos 168 oxidises to tris(2,4-di-tert-butylphenyl) phosphate and hydrolyses further to 2,4-di-tert-butylphenol, which one survey found at up to 45.568 plus or minus 31.513 mg/kg in BOPP and LDPE food-contact products; neither compound is on the EU Union list, so both are handled as non-intentionally added substances under Article 19. Diffusion, extraction and testing routes are covered on additive migration in plastics.

What Are the Alternatives to Irganox 1010?#

The 4 substances a formulator weighs against Irganox 1010 are Irganox 1076, Irganox 1330, Irganox 3114 and BHT, while Irgafos 168 is not an alternative at all but the partner it is normally blended with. ADK STAB AO-80 is the fifth candidate where discolouration is the deciding property. The table compares identity, structure and food-contact status, and it does not rank performance: no head-to-head dataset for these grades sits in our source library.

Table T6. Irganox 1010 compared with the alternative phenols and with its phosphite partner.

Footnotes: (1) the phenolic-group counts follow the systematic names (tetrakis, tris, mono) and the chemical class fields of our source library; they are a structural property, not a performance ranking. (2) The FDA percentages are legal maxima under 21 CFR 178.2010, not recommended dosages. (3) The Irganox 1330 melting range comes from the Songwon technical sheet; BASF values may differ slightly.

The full side-by-side sits on the antioxidant grade comparison page.

Irganox 1010 vs Irganox 1076#

Irganox 1010 carries four phenolic groups on a molecule of 1177.6 g/mol and Irganox 1076 carries one on 530.9 g/mol, which is the whole difference: about 1.8 times more phenolic groups per kilogram for Irganox 1010, and a far lower vapour pressure at 7 x 10^-10 Pa against 2.5 x 10^-7 Pa at 20 °C (68 °F). Melting behaviour follows the same split, 110 to 125 °C (230 to 257 °F) against 50 to 55 °C (122 to 131 °F).

Food contact is the practical tie-breaker. Irganox 1076 (Antioxidant 1076) carries an SML of 6 mg/kg under FCM 433, where Irganox 1010 carries none under FCM 496, and the US caps differ as well, at 0.25 % in listed olefin polymers for Irganox 1076 against 0.5 % for Irganox 1010. Neither difference is a performance statement: no head-to-head efficiency data for the two grades sits in our source library, and the extra phenol groups per kilogram are a structural fact.

Irganox 1010 vs Irgafos 168#

Irganox 1010 and Irgafos 168 are not competitors: Irganox 1010 traps radicals during the whole service life of the part, while Irgafos 168 destroys hydroperoxides mainly during melt processing. The two chemistries are different, a hindered phenol of 1177.6 g/mol against an aryl phosphite of 646.9 g/mol melting at 183 to 186 °C (361.4 to 366.8 °F), and so are the dose bands, 0.05 to 0.4 wt% against 0.05 to 0.2 wt% in polyolefins.

Chosen against each other rather than together, the decision is about where the protection is needed. Irgafos 168 works mainly in the extruder, not over the service life of the part, so a compound stabilized with a phosphite alone can pass a multipass extrusion trial and still embrittle in oven ageing.

Irganox 1010 vs BHT#

BHT is the cheap, volatile phenol and Irganox 1010 is the heavy, non-volatile one: BHT melts at 70 to 71 °C (158 to 159.8 °F) and evaporates out of a melt processed between 150 and 320 °C (302 and 608 °F), which is why higher-molecular-weight phenols replaced it in most plastics. At 220.35 g/mol against 1177.6 g/mol, the molecular weight difference is a factor of more than five.

Regulatory attention is the second difference. BHT (butylated hydroxytoluene) is under substance evaluation in the REACH CoRAP programme for suspected endocrine disruption, and the US Food and Drug Administration published a Request for Information on BHT on 13 May 2026 (docket FDA-2026-N-2526), with the comment period reopened to 31 August 2026; neither action is a restriction, and BHT is not banned. Irganox 1010 is subject to neither. BHT keeps a food-contact entry as FCM 315 with an SML of 3 mg/kg, and it remains in use where its volatility is acceptable.

Irganox 1330, Irganox 3114 and ADK STAB AO-80#

Three phenols compete with Irganox 1010 where its ester linkages or its melting range are a problem: Irganox 1330 (ester-free, melting at 241 to 247 °C or 465.8 to 476.6 °F), Irganox 3114 (an isocyanurate for long-term heat ageing) and ADK STAB AO-80 (a low-discolouration semi-hindered phenol). The differences are larger in food contact than in the chemistry.

Irganox 1330 is the ester-free phenol, which matters where hydrolysis is a risk, and it shares the "no SML" position of Irganox 1010 as FCM 428. Irganox 3114 is the isocyanurate phenol for long-term heat ageing, listed as FCM 661 with an SML of 5 mg/kg. ADK STAB AO-80, also sold as Sumilizer GA-80, is the tightest of the three in food contact, at an SML of 0.05 mg/kg as the sum with its oxidation product under FCM 858, and it is the only one of the four with a harmonised classification, Acute Tox. 4 (dermal), H312.

Who Manufactures Irganox 1010? Grades, Equivalents and Suppliers#

Irganox 1010 is made by BASF, which owns the Irganox brand, and the same substance is sold by Songwon, Adeka, Dover Chemical, Sumitomo Chemical, Everspring and many Chinese producers under their own grade names. BASF acquired the brand with Ciba Specialty Chemicals on 9 April 2009, which also brought Irgafos, Tinuvin and Chimassorb into the same portfolio. Songwon, based in Ulsan, Korea, describes itself as the world's second-largest polymer stabilizer producer, a company claim that CHEManager reported in 2013.

Commodity material is specified by its certificate of analysis. A typical Chinese commodity specification for "antioxidant 1010" gives an assay of at least 98 %, volatiles of at most 0.5 %, ash of at most 0.1 % and transmittance at 425 nm of at least 96 %. Buyers should ask for the certificate of analysis, the technical data sheet and the safety data sheet, and compare assay, volatiles, ash and transmittance before treating two grades as interchangeable. Locations, certifications and product lines are compared in the directory of polymer antioxidant manufacturers and suppliers.

Table T7. Irganox 1010 producers and equivalent grade names.

Irganox 1010 equivalents across suppliers#

Eight trade names cover the same CAS number, so a cross-reference is the fastest way to check an offer: Irganox 1010, Songnox 1010, ADK STAB AO-60, Anox 20, Dovernox 10, Naugard 10, Sumilizer BP-101 and Evernox 10. Two further names, Lowinox PP35 and Ralox 630, appear on the same substance without a brand owner recorded in our source library, so this page lists them as trade names only.

Any of the ten names resolves to CAS 6683-19-8 in the plastic additive trade name lookup, the check to run before a specification is written against a brand rather than a substance.

What does Irganox 1010 cost?#

We do not publish a price per kilogram for Irganox 1010, because no sourced and dated price for it exists in our source library. A marketplace number without a date and a basis is a false precision that a buyer cannot use in a negotiation.

Five drivers set the delivered price. Branded BASF material and commodity "antioxidant 1010" are quoted differently; purity and volatiles in the certificate of analysis move the price within the commodity band; powder and dust-free pastilles are priced apart, because the pastille carries a processing step; order volume decides whether the quote is a drum price or a container price; and origin plus freight can outweigh the ex-works difference altogether.

Where Does Irganox 1010 Sit in the Antioxidant Family?#

Irganox 1010 is the reference member of the hindered-phenol class, the group of primary antioxidants that sits beside aminic antioxidants, phosphites, thioesters and carbon-radical scavengers in the antioxidant family. The wider family also holds metal deactivators, which neutralise copper and iron residues, and vitamin E, used as a melt stabilizer at 100 to 300 ppm. Phenolics hold 39.72 % of plastic antioxidant revenue in 2025 according to Mordor Intelligence, while phosphites and phosphonites are the fastest-growing class at a 6.18 % compound annual growth rate. Where each class fits is set out under the types of antioxidants for plastics.

From Geigy 1962 to the volume leader#

Irganox 1010 was invented by M. Dexter and colleagues at Geigy, with a priority date of 5 January 1962, and Rainer Pfaendner's 2025 history of plastic additives calls it the volume-wise number one antioxidant today. That ranking is one author's assessment rather than an audited statistic, and this page adds no tonnage figure beyond the Chemical Data Reporting band in the regulatory matrix.

The chemistry behind it is older than the product. The autoxidation scheme that Irganox 1010 interrupts was derived by J. L. Bolland and G. Gee in the 1940s from rubber and lipid oxidation, and the synthesis route that made the tetraester commercially viable, a Michael addition followed by a transesterification with pentaerythritol, is the same one used today.

How large is the plastic antioxidant market?#

Mordor Intelligence sizes the plastic antioxidant market at USD 5.41 billion in 2025 and USD 5.69 billion in 2026, with a forecast of USD 7.33 billion by 2031 at a 5.18 % compound annual growth rate; other analysts put 2025 between USD 5.86 and 5.9 billion. The spread between those figures measures how precisely the market is known.

Inside that total, the same analyst puts polypropylene at 34.68 % of revenue, packaging at 39.22 % of end use and Asia-Pacific at 36.40 % of the geography, which matches where Irganox 1010 is consumed. The antioxidant figure sits inside the wider plastic additives market, where the analyst ranges are compared side by side. BASF, Songwon and Adeka all appear in the ranking of the largest plastic additive companies.

Irganox 1010 outside plastics: adhesives, tackifier resins and coatings#

Outside plastics, Irganox 1010 stabilizes hot-melt adhesives at 0.2 to 1 wt%, synthetic tackifier resins at 0.1 to 0.5 wt% and solvent-based coatings; these uses sit outside the scope of this reference, which covers additives in plastics. US food-contact law treats the adhesive case separately, at a maximum of 1.0 % in pressure-sensitive adhesives and can-end cements and 0.1 % in petroleum wax under 21 CFR 178.2010, with 21 CFR 175.105 covering adhesives as such.

Is Irganox 1010 banned anywhere?#

No: Irganox 1010 is not restricted under REACH Annex XVII, is not on the REACH authorisation list, and is not a persistent organic pollutant under Regulation (EU) 2019/1021 (status 23 September 2026). That answer covers the instruments this page tracks, the EU and US frameworks named in the regulatory matrix, and it is not a worldwide clearance.

Does Irganox 1010 need an SDS?#

Yes: suppliers provide a safety data sheet for Irganox 1010 as for any traded chemical, even though it carries no harmonised CLP classification. The safety data sheet comes from the supplier of the specific grade, since the self-classification and the impurity profile differ between producers.

Is Irganox 1010 a food antioxidant?#

No: Irganox 1010 is a food-contact substance, not a food additive, which means it is cleared as a component of the plastic and not as an ingredient added to food. BHT is the substance that holds both roles, as a direct food additive under 21 CFR 172.115, as GRAS under 21 CFR 182.3173 and as EU food additive E321, while Irganox 1010 appears only in the indirect-additive and food-contact-material frameworks. Food and feed antioxidants are outside the scope of this reference.