Irganox 1076 (Antioxidant 1076): Properties, Uses in Plastics and Regulatory Status

Irganox 1076 (antioxidant 1076, CAS 2082-79-3) is a sterically hindered phenol used as a primary antioxidant in polyolefins, styrenics and elastomers, where its single C18 stearyl ester arm makes it lighter and more mobile than the four-armed Irganox 1010, at 530.9 g/mol against 1177.6 g/mol. Because it is consumed as it works, the question for a formulator is not whether Irganox 1076 protects a polymer against thermo-oxidative degradation but how much of it survives processing and how much of it is allowed to migrate.

The compliance answer sits in three instruments. Irganox 1076 is listed in the Union list of Regulation (EU) No 10/2011 as FCM substance 433 with a specific migration limit of 6 mg/kg, is listed in 21 CFR 178.2010 at up to 0.25 wt% in listed olefin polymers and polystyrene and 0.5 wt% in ABS, and is registered under REACH (Regulation (EC) No 1907/2006, ECHA dossier 15217) without appearing on the Candidate List in the sources checked as of 22 September 2026. It 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 buyer view together: identity and equivalent trade names, the hindered phenol mechanism and its gas-fading limit, the physical constants, the dosage band per polymer against the legal cap, the applications, the tests that verify a package, the blend ratios with Irgafos 168, a dated regulatory matrix, the comparison with Irganox 1010, BHT and Irganox 1135, and the producers.

Table T1. Irganox 1076 identity card.

Footnote: identity data from PubChem CID 16386; physical data from the BASF Irganox 1076 technical data sheet; regulatory entries from the consolidated text of Regulation (EU) No 10/2011 of 16 March 2025 and from eCFR 21 CFR 178.2010. Status as of 23 September 2026.

What Is Irganox 1076 (Antioxidant 1076)?#

Irganox 1076 is the octadecyl (stearyl) ester of 3-(3,5-di-tert-butyl-4-hydroxyphenyl)propionic acid, a sterically hindered phenol that acts as a primary, chain-breaking antioxidant in plastics. Which substance does the number 1076 actually stand for? The number is a grade code, not a chemical descriptor, and it resolves to one molecule, CAS 2082-79-3, whatever brand sits in front of it. Two tert-butyl groups flank the phenolic hydroxyl and create the steric hindrance that names the class, while the long aliphatic tail carries the molecule into the non-polar phase of a polyolefin.

Molecular weight places this grade at the bottom of its class. Primary antioxidants generally sit between 300 and 1,000 g/mol, because a molecule below that band evaporates out of the melt and a heavier one disperses more slowly, and at 530.9 g/mol Irganox 1076 is the lightest of the three high-volume phenols used in commodity plastics. As a primary antioxidant it belongs to the family of antioxidants for plastics, which the family hub splits into primary, secondary and carbon-radical classes.

What is the chemical name for antioxidant 1076?#

The chemical name of antioxidant 1076 is octadecyl 3-(3,5-di-tert-butyl-4-hydroxyphenyl)propionate, which older literature and PubChem also print as octadecyl 3,5-di-tert-butyl-4-hydroxyhydrocinnamate. Both names describe CAS 2082-79-3 and the formula C35H62O3, and a third form, stearyl 3-(3,5-di-tert-butyl-4-hydroxyphenyl)propionate, uses the trivial name of the C18 alcohol in place of the systematic one.

What is another name for Irganox 1076? Trade names and equivalents#

Irganox 1076 is BASF's trade name for CAS 2082-79-3; the identical substance is sold as Songnox 1076 by Songwon, ADK STAB AO-50 and Mark AO-50 by Adeka, Sumilizer BP-76 by Sumitomo Chemical, and simply as "antioxidant 1076" by Chinese and Indian producers. Four further names, Anox PP18, Lowinox PO35, Naugard 76 and Ultranox 276, are sold under brand lines that carry the same CAS number, and Ralox 530 is the ninth name recorded in our source library. Every one of them carries the same molecular formula, C35H62O3, and the same EU and US listings, which makes a specification written against a brand rather than a CAS number the most common sourcing error on this substance.

Assay, volatiles and physical form are where equivalent grades actually differ. The equivalence table below lists each trade name with the producer or brand line it belongs to.

Table T2. Cross-brand equivalence for CAS 2082-79-3.

Footnote: all rows are the same substance, CAS 2082-79-3. The Anox, Lowinox, Naugard and Ultranox brand lines are held by SI Group, but the assignment of these four grade numbers to that owner is not verified against the producer's own product pages and is printed here as a brand-line attribution only. Always confirm grade form and assay on the supplier's own technical data sheet.

Is Irganox 1076 the same as Irgafos 1076?#

No: there is no product called Irgafos 1076, because BASF uses Irganox for phenolic antioxidants and their blends and Irgafos for phosphites, so 1076 is always an Irganox. The mirror-image error is equally common: "Irganox 168" does not exist either, since 168 is the phosphite Irgafos 168, CAS 31570-04-4. A third prefix in the same range, Irgastab, covers special stabilisers, while Asian generic naming drops the prefix altogether and keeps only the number, which is why the same molecule reaches a buyer as antioxidant 1076 on one quotation and as Irganox 1076 on the next.

How Does Irganox 1076 Protect Polymers? The Hindered Phenol Mechanism#

Irganox 1076 protects a polymer by donating the hydrogen atom of its hindered phenolic O-H group to a peroxy radical (ROO• + ArOH → ROOH + ArO•), which stops the propagation step of autoxidation before the chain can branch. What is the reaction that Irganox 1076 has to interrupt? Thermo-oxidative degradation follows the autoxidation cycle described by J. L. Bolland and G. Gee in the 1940s, and that cycle runs in 4 steps.

1. Initiation: heat, shear and catalyst residues break C-H bonds in the polymer and create the first carbon radicals, written R•.
2. Propagation: carbon radicals add molecular oxygen at 10^7 to 10^9 L mol-1 s-1 to give peroxy radicals (ROO•), which abstract hydrogen from the polymer chain and regenerate R•.
3. Chain branching: hydroperoxides (ROOH) decompose into alkoxy and hydroxyl radicals, so each hydroperoxide starts two further chains.
4. Termination: radicals combine into non-radical products, too slowly in an unstabilised polymer to hold molecular weight constant.

The phenoxy radical left behind is the reason the reaction works. Its unpaired electron is delocalised into the aromatic ring and shielded by the two ortho tert-butyl groups, so it is too crowded to abstract hydrogen from the polymer, and it ends as non-radical products, typically quinone methides. Each phenol is therefore consumed sacrificially, and the induction period of a compound lasts as long as active phenol remains. Laboratory work on related phenols puts the stoichiometric factor near 2 peroxyl radicals per phenol, a value measured for alpha-tocopherol, PMHC, BHA and BHT rather than for Irganox 1076.

Melt processing is where the demand peaks, because plastics are extruded and moulded between 150 and 320 °C (302 and 608 °F). The full cycle, with its rate constants, is set out under polymer oxidation and antioxidant mechanisms.

Why the C18 chain makes 1076 different from other hindered phenols#

One phenol arm instead of four is what separates Irganox 1076 from Irganox 1010: at 530.9 g/mol it carries roughly half the molecular weight, so it moves faster through a polyolefin and also evaporates and migrates more readily. Vapour pressure puts numbers on that trade-off: 2.5 × 10^-7 Pa at 20 °C (68 °F) for Irganox 1076 against 7 × 10^-10 Pa for Irganox 1010, while the C18 stearyl chain improves compatibility with non-polar polyolefins in return.

Mobility and permanence are opposite properties. The molecular-weight ladder across phenolic antioxidants (hindered phenols) runs from BHT at 220.35 g/mol through Irganox 1076 at 530.9 g/mol to Irganox 1010 at 1,177.6 g/mol, and losses from volatility and migration fall as that number rises. No diffusion coefficient for Irganox 1076 sits in our source library, so this page ranks mobility without quantifying it.

What gas fading is, and when Irganox 1076 discolours#

Gas fading is the discolouration that appears when nitrogen oxides convert a phenolic antioxidant into quinone methides, and it is the reason BASF's own Irganox 1076 data sheet advises against phenolics in direct gas-fired ovens. The same chemistry that terminates a radical chain produces coloured bodies: BHT forms stilbenequinone, and the phenoxy radical route of Irganox 1076 ends at quinone methides. NOx from a burner flame drives that conversion without any oxidative stress on the polymer.

Two routes avoid the effect. The first replaces the phenol with a phosphite, and Irgafos 168 is explicitly usable where a phenolic is not; the second uses a phenol-free system of a hydroxylamine plus a phosphite, and N,N-dibenzylhydroxylamine is documented in US patent 4,590,231 as preventing gas fading of polypropylene stabilised with a phenolic. The causes and the additive fixes for yellowing, pinking and gas fading are compared in the formulation section.

What Are the Physical and Chemical Properties of Irganox 1076?#

Irganox 1076 is a white granular or powdered solid with a melting point of 50 to 55 °C (122 to 131 °F), a flash point of 273 °C (523 °F) and a vapour pressure of 2.5 × 10^-7 Pa at 20 °C (68 °F). The physical constants recorded in our source library are listed below with the unit and the source for each.

Table T3. Physical and chemical properties of Irganox 1076.

The values above follow the BASF technical data sheet, because the melting range is quoted differently elsewhere: AI Overviews and chemical portals give a narrower 50 to 52 °C (122 to 126 °F), so a specification names its source sheet. No solvent solubility table for Irganox 1076 sits in our source library, and this page prints none rather than carrying over the figures published for Irganox 1010, a different molecule with four ester arms. Physical form is the remaining variable: the FD grade is supplied as dust-free pastilles, which changes handling without changing the chemistry.

Which Polymers Use Irganox 1076, and at What Dosage?#

Irganox 1076 is dosed at 0.1 to 0.4 wt% in polyolefins according to supplier guidance, while US food-contact law allows a legal maximum of 0.25 wt% in listed olefin polymers and polystyrene and 0.5 wt% in ABS under 21 CFR 178.2010. How do those percentages compare with what a commodity resin already contains? Commodity polypropylene grades leave the reactor carrying less than 400 ppm of phenolic antioxidant as base stabilisation, which is 0.04 wt%, so the compounder's addition is typically 2 to 10 times the base level the resin producer already paid for.

The dosage table separates the two kinds of number that supplier literature tends to mix. The typical dosage column is commercial guidance, the legal maximum column is US food-contact law, and no figure in one column is a recommendation in the other.

Table T4. Irganox 1076 dosage by polymer against the US legal cap.

Footnote: FDA percentages are legal maxima under 21 CFR 178.2010, not recommended dosages, and 178.2010(a) additionally limits the quantity to the amount reasonably required for the technical effect.

Cost in use follows from these bands: a 0.1 wt% difference on a 1,000 tonne compounding run is one tonne of additive. Typical ranges for every additive family are tabulated under additive dosage levels in plastics.

Irganox 1076 in polypropylene#

Polypropylene is the most oxidation-prone commodity polymer and the largest single use of Irganox 1076: its tertiary C-H bonds are abstracted more easily than the secondary bonds of polyethylene, and commodity grades leave the reactor with under 400 ppm of phenolic antioxidant as base stabilisation. A compounder adding Irganox 1076 to that base works in the supplier band of 0.1 to 0.4 wt%, with a phosphite partner at a phosphite-to-phenol ratio between 1:1 and 4:1 in standard blends.

Bio-based replacements are being measured against this grade rather than against the class. In one study from Fraunhofer LBF, Mayer and colleagues (2023) reported that a sinapic acid stearyl ester gave processing stability in polypropylene comparable or superior to AO-1076, which is the closest published benchmark to a like-for-like substitution. The full PP stabiliser package, including the phosphite partner, is on antioxidants for polypropylene.

Irganox 1076 in polyethylene#

Irganox 1076 is one of the two phenolic antioxidants that analysts routinely find in commercial polyethylene packaging: María Dopico-García and colleagues (Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry, 2007) identified Irganox 1010 and Irganox 1076 together with Irgafos 168 and its phosphate in PE, PP and PVC packages. Polyethylene oxidises more slowly than polypropylene, but film and pipe grades still take a phenol plus phosphite package, because the phenol alone leaves the hydroperoxides that accumulate during extrusion.

Dosage follows the same supplier band of 0.1 to 0.4 wt% as for other polyolefins. Our source library carries two conflicting values for the minimum oxidative induction time of PE pipe compound, so this page states none. Film, pipe and cable grades take different packages, compared on antioxidants for polyethylene.

Irganox 1076 in ABS and styrenics#

In ABS, 0.2 wt% Irganox 1076 is the level a 2019 study in Polymers (11, 25) describes as industrially attractive, because the polybutadiene rubber phase, not the styrene-acrylonitrile matrix, is what oxidises. The same study reports that mass-polymerised ABS is more oxidation-stable than emulsion ABS, that a phosphite used alone raises only the oxidation peak temperature, and that the combination of AO-1076 with Irganox 245 acts synergistically.

US food-contact law allows twice as much here as in polyolefins, at a legal maximum of 0.5 wt% in ABS under 21 CFR 178.2010. Emulsion and mass ABS need different answers, set out on antioxidants for ABS and styrenics.

Irganox 1076 in recycled polyolefins#

Recycled polyolefins need restabilisation because the antioxidant from the first life is largely consumed, and Irganox 1076 enters those packages as the phenolic half of a binary blend with a phosphite, sold by Songwon as 117B, 217B, 417B and 147B. Rainer Pfaendner's work on restabilisation established the principle that a recyclate needs a fresh phenol plus phosphite package, because both the radical scavenger and the hydroperoxide decomposer are depleted.

The four Songwon blend numbers encode the ratio of phosphite to Irganox 1076: 1:1 in 117B, 2:1 in 217B, 4:1 in 417B and 1:4 in 147B. The multipass dose range published for recyclate restabilisation, 0.1 to 0.3 wt%, was measured for binary blends of Irganox 1010 with Irgafos 168 and belongs to that pair, not to a 1076 blend. Dose levels and multipass data for restabilization of recycled plastics are collected on the restabilisation page.

What Is Irganox 1076 Used For? Applications in Plastics#

Irganox 1076 is used in 3 groups of plastics applications: polyolefin film and moulded goods, styrenics and engineering plastics, and elastomers, with coatings and adhesives as a fourth market outside the plastics border. The three plastics groups recorded in our source library are listed below.

• Polyolefin films and moulded goods: blown and cast PE and PP film, injection-moulded PP parts, pipe and cable compounds.
• Styrenics and engineering plastics: ABS, HIPS and polymers whose rubber phase or tertiary carbons oxidise faster than the matrix.
• Elastomers: thermoplastic and crosslinked rubbers protected against thermo-oxidative degradation in compounding and service.

Polyolefin film and moulded goods#

Blown and cast polyolefin film is the highest-volume home of Irganox 1076, because film sees the full 150 to 320 °C (302 to 608 °F) melt-processing range at a very high surface-to-volume ratio. That geometry works against the additive twice: the melt curtain exposes a large area to oxygen during extrusion, and the finished film offers a short diffusion path to the surface.

Moulded goods invert the problem. A thick-walled part has a small surface-to-volume ratio and a long thermal history in the mould, so the phenol is asked for long-term protection rather than melt protection. Slip, antiblock and antioxidant work together in film, as additives for packaging film shows.

Food-contact packaging#

Food packaging is where Irganox 1076 carries the tightest numbers: the EU lists it as FCM substance 433 with a specific migration limit of 6 mg/kg, and 21 CFR 178.2010 caps it at 0.25 wt% in listed olefin polymers in the United States. Those two limits work in opposite directions, one on what leaves the article and one on what goes into the compound, and a food-contact formulation satisfies both.

Analytical surveys show why the limit exists. Dopico-García and colleagues (2007) found Irganox 1076 alongside Irganox 1010 and Irgafos 168 in commercial PE, PP and PVC packaging, so migration from this class is measured routinely. Every SML and 178.2010 limit in the family is listed together on food contact antioxidants.

Styrenics, engineering plastics and elastomers#

Beyond polyolefins, Irganox 1076 stabilises styrenics such as ABS and HIPS, several engineering plastics and elastomers, always for the same reason: an unsaturated site or a tertiary carbon that oxidises faster than the bulk polymer. In ABS that site is the polybutadiene rubber phase, and in an elastomer it is the residual unsaturation of the backbone.

Our source library records no dosage figure for elastomers or for engineering plastics other than the ABS numbers, so this page describes these uses without quantifying them.

When a phenolic antioxidant is the wrong choice#

A phenolic antioxidant is the wrong choice wherever NOx meets the part: in direct gas-fired ovens, and in white or light-coloured articles where any quinone methide shows. BASF's Irganox 1076 data sheet states the oven restriction directly, and names the phosphite Irgafos 168 as usable in the same equipment.

Two alternatives cover that gap. A phosphite carries the melt-processing load without forming coloured phenolic transformation products, and a hydroxylamine plus phosphite system removes the phenol from the formulation altogether. Where discolouration cannot be tolerated, phenol-free stabilization with hydroxylamines and lactones replaces the phenol.

How Does Irganox 1076 Perform? OIT, Melt Flow and Heat Ageing#

The performance of Irganox 1076 is measured indirectly, as a property of the finished compound: a differential scanning calorimetry run per ISO 11357-6:2018 or ASTM D3895-19 heats the sample under nitrogen at 190 to 220 °C (374 to 428 °F), switches the gas to oxygen and times the onset of oxidation. That time, the oxidative induction time, indicates how much active antioxidant is left, and is not a direct assay of the additive.

Table T5. Performance indicators for an Irganox 1076 package.

Can the antioxidant itself be measured in the part? Yes: ASTM D6042-23 extracts polypropylene with a cyclohexane and methylene chloride mixture and quantifies the extract by liquid chromatography with ultraviolet detection at 200 nm, at a limit of detection of about 2 ppm, and the method covers Irganox 1076 by name alongside erucamide, vitamin E, Irgafos 168, Irganox 3114 and Irganox 1010. The method, its temperature window and its limits are explained under oxidative induction time (OIT).

Processing stability is read from melt flow rate instead. A multipass extrusion trial per ISO 1133 or ASTM D1238 compares the melt flow rate of the same compound after successive passes, and a rising value in polypropylene signals chain scission. One supplier figure puts the increase for unstabilised polypropylene at 20 to 50 % after a single pass at 230 °C (446 °F), a claim from a commercial blog rather than from a standard.

Service life at temperature is the third question, and oven ageing answers it: ASTM D3012, ISO 4577 and UL 746B run specimens in circulating-air ovens until embrittlement, which tests the whole package rather than the phenol alone.

No OIT value, no melt flow retention figure and no oven-ageing result specific to Irganox 1076 sits in our source library, so this page names the methods and leaves the numbers to the compound. Oven-ageing protocols for long-term heat aging decide whether a phenol alone is enough.

How Does Irganox 1076 Interact with Other Stabilizers?#

Irganox 1076 is almost never dosed alone: a primary antioxidant stops radicals that already exist, so it is paired with a secondary antioxidant that destroys the hydroperoxides feeding them. The two classes work at different points of the same cycle, which is why their combination is more effective than either alone at the same total loading.

Three combinations dominate practice: phenol plus phosphite for melt processing, phenol plus thioester for long-term heat ageing, and phenol plus hindered amine light stabiliser outdoors.

Phenol plus phosphite: the Irganox B 900 blend and its equivalents#

The standard commercial pairing is Irganox B 900, a ready-made blend of 80 % Irgafos 168 and 20 % Irganox 1076, which fixes the phosphite-to-phenol ratio at 4 to 1. Buying the blend removes a weighing step and the segregation risk of dosing a powder and a granulate separately.

Ratios in the wider literature run far wider than that. Patent filings cover phenol-to-phosphite weight ratios from about 20:1 to 1:10, while standard commercial blends sit between 1:1 and 4:1 phosphite to phenol, and the Songwon binary blends built on Irganox 1076 cover 1:1 (117B), 2:1 (217B), 4:1 (417B) and 1:4 (147B). Compositions and supplier equivalents for antioxidant blends and synergy are listed on the blends page.

Phenol plus thioester for long-term heat ageing#

For long-term heat ageing at about 100 to 150 °C (212 to 302 °F), a phenol is paired with a thioester rather than with a phosphite, because sulfur chemistry keeps decomposing hydroperoxides long after the melt has cooled. Thioethers such as DLTDP and DSTDP oxidise to sulfoxides and sulfones, which are themselves active.

The published ratio optimum for this pair comes from work on Irganox 1010, not on Irganox 1076: a 20:80 phenol-to-DSTDP ratio gave the best long-term thermal stability at 150 °C (302 °F) in polypropylene, and 80:20 was better for processing stabilisation. DLTDP and DSTDP, the two commercial thioester antioxidants, share one EU group restriction.

Antagonism: thioesters, HALS and the limits of stacking stabilizers#

Adding more stabilizer classes is not always additive: the acidic sulfur oxidation products a thioester forms as it works deactivate hindered amine light stabilizers, so the two are antagonistic in the same formulation. A formulation that needs both long-term heat ageing and UV protection therefore chooses between them rather than stacking them.

The phenol carries its own limit. Quinone methides from the phenol are colour bodies and NOx accelerates their formation, so raising the phenol loading buys thermal protection and discolouration risk together.

What Is the Regulatory Status of Irganox 1076?#

Irganox 1076 is REACH-registered, is not a Substance of Very High Concern in the sources checked, is authorised for EU food-contact plastics as FCM substance 433 with a specific migration limit of 6 mg/kg, and is listed in 21 CFR 178.2010 with polymer-specific maxima (status 23 September 2026). The matrix below carries the date and reference for each entry.

Table T6. Regulatory matrix for Irganox 1076, status 23 September 2026.

Is Irganox 1076 REACH registered, and is it an SVHC?#

Yes, Irganox 1076 is registered under REACH (Regulation (EC) No 1907/2006, ECHA dossier 15217), and no, it is not a Substance of Very High Concern: it is absent from the Candidate List in the sources checked as of 22 September 2026. The registration dossier carries no tonnage band in our source library, and the Candidate List statement is a snapshot to be re-checked at each ECHA update, the next one due in January 2027.

Being an antioxidant is no protection. Two antioxidants are already on the SVHC Candidate List, antioxidant 2246 since 17 January 2022 for reproductive toxicity and TNPP since 16 July 2019 for endocrine-disrupting properties in the environment, so this class is reviewed like any other.

Is Irganox 1076 allowed in EU food-contact plastics?#

Yes: Irganox 1076 is on the Union list of Regulation (EU) No 10/2011 as FCM substance 433 under Ref 68320, with an individual specific migration limit of 6 mg/kg, while Irganox 1010 and Irgafos 168 are listed without any SML. That difference is the single most consequential fact for a food-contact conversion between the two phenols, because a limit that exists has to be verified by testing or by modelling.

FCM 433 carries an individual restriction rather than a group restriction. The thioesters DLTDP, DSTDP and ditetradecyl thiodipropionate share group restriction 14 with a combined SML(T) of 5 mg/kg, and Irganox 1520 and Irganox 1726 share group restriction 24, so for those substances the sum of the group counts against one number, while for Irganox 1076 only its own migration counts. How FCM numbers, SMLs and the fat reduction factor work is explained on EU 10/2011.

What does an SML of 6 mg/kg mean in practice?#

A specific migration limit of 6 mg/kg caps how much Irganox 1076 may pass from the article into the food or the simulant, not how much may be added to the compound. A compound holding 0.2 wt% of the additive is compliant if migration stays below the limit, whatever the loading was.

The fat reduction factor applies to this entry, so results measured in fatty-food simulants are corrected before comparison, and the overall migration limit of 10 mg/dm2 applies on top. Migration itself is measured by the EN 1186 and EN 13130 methods. The full table of specific migration limits (SML) lists every additive with a number.

Is Irganox 1076 FDA approved for food contact?#

The FDA does not "approve" antioxidants one by one: Irganox 1076 is listed in 21 CFR 178.2010 as an antioxidant and stabiliser for polymers, at a maximum of 0.25 wt% in listed olefin polymers and polystyrene and 0.5 wt% in ABS. A listing authorises a use under stated conditions, which is a different legal act from an approval granted to a product.

One umbrella condition governs all of those percentages. Under 21 CFR 178.2010(a), the quantity used must not exceed the amount reasonably required to accomplish the intended technical effect, so the polymer-specific caps are ceilings rather than targets, and Anna Neal-Kluever, Lynn Bailey and Judith Hatwell at the US Food and Drug Administration published a post-market re-evaluation of the substance in Food and Chemical Toxicology in 2015. How 21 CFR listings differ from an approval is set out under FDA food contact rules.

Is Irganox 1076 Safe? Health, Safety and Environmental Profile#

Irganox 1076 has no harmonised hazard classification under the EU CLP Regulation; the H317, H361 and H411 statements that appear on some safety data sheets are self-classifications notified to ECHA by a minority of companies, not a harmonised entry in CLP Annex VI. A self-classification reflects one notifier's own assessment, so two suppliers of the same CAS number can ship material with different hazard statements.

Three strands of evidence describe what is known about this substance.

• Classification: no harmonised CLP classification; minority self-classifications of H317 (skin sensitisation), H361 (suspected reproductive toxicity) and H411 (aquatic chronic), aggregated by PubChem from C&L notifications.
• Toxicological assessment: Anna Neal-Kluever and colleagues at the US Food and Drug Administration (Food and Chemical Toxicology 86:176, 2015) derived a no-observed-adverse-effect level of 64 mg per kg body weight per day from the chronic rat study, a cumulative estimated daily intake of 4.5 mg per person per day and a margin of exposure of about 850.
• Measured exposure: Han and colleagues (Journal of Hazardous Materials 470, 2024) measured synthetic phenolic antioxidants in Chinese food-contact materials at a median of 2,615.63 µg/kg, in a range from 44.18 to 69,485.12 µg/kg.

The margin of exposure carries the most information of the three, because it compares the dose with no observed adverse effect against the estimated intake from all authorised food-contact uses. Survey data on chemicals migrating from plastic food packaging put measured antioxidant levels in context.

Environmental status is thinner. Irganox 1076 is not listed under the EU POPs Regulation (EU) 2019/1021, its California Proposition 65 status is not verified in our sources, and the aquatic self-classification is a notifier statement rather than a harmonised one.

What Are the Alternatives to Irganox 1076? Grade Comparison#

The 4 grades a formulator weighs against Irganox 1076 are Irganox 1010 (the tetrafunctional phenol), BHT (the volatile low-molecular-weight phenol it replaced), Irgafos 168 (a secondary antioxidant and a partner rather than a substitute) and Irganox 1135 (the liquid phenol). Their identity, molecular weight, EU status and US cap are compared below.

Table T7. Irganox 1076 against four alternative grades.

Footnote: FDA percentages are legal maxima under 21 CFR 178.2010, not recommended dosages.

The full side-by-side sits on the antioxidant grade comparison page, which carries the head-to-head query for the class.

Irganox 1076 vs Irganox 1010#

Irganox 1010 is the default where permanence matters and Irganox 1076 is the choice where mobility and handling matter: at 1,177.6 g/mol against 530.9 g/mol, Irganox 1010 stays in the part longer, while Irganox 1076 reaches the surface faster and melts at 50 to 55 °C (122 to 131 °F) rather than 110 to 125 °C (230 to 257 °F). Three numbers separate them in practice: molecular weight, vapour pressure at 2.5 × 10^-7 Pa against 7 × 10^-10 Pa at 20 °C (68 °F), and the number of phenol arms, one against four.

The regulatory difference stops a like-for-like swap in food contact. Irganox 1010 (antioxidant 1010) carries four phenol arms on a pentaerythritol core and no EU specific migration limit as FCM 496, while Irganox 1076 carries an SML of 6 mg/kg as FCM 433, so a conversion changes the compliance evidence a converter has to produce.

Irganox 1076 vs BHT#

Volatility is why Irganox 1076 replaced BHT in most plastics: at 220.35 g/mol, BHT evaporates out of the melt and out of the finished part, while Irganox 1076 at 530.9 g/mol stays in the polymer. BHT also carries a tighter EU limit, an SML of 3 mg/kg as FCM 315 against 6 mg/kg for Irganox 1076.

Regulatory attention on BHT is currently higher than on Irganox 1076. BHT (butylated hydroxytoluene) is not a Substance of Very High Concern, but it sits on the Community rolling action plan for suspected endocrine disruption, and the FDA published a Request for Information on it on 13 May 2026 (docket FDA-2026-N-2526), with the comment period reopened to 31 August 2026.

Irganox 1076 vs Irgafos 168: phenol or phosphite?#

This is not an either-or comparison: Irganox 1076 is a primary antioxidant that scavenges radicals, and Irgafos 168 is a secondary antioxidant that destroys the hydroperoxides producing them, which is why the two are sold pre-blended as Irganox B 900. The phosphite reaction is ROOH + P(OR)3 → ROH + OP(OR)3, which converts a hydroperoxide into an alcohol before it branches the chain.

Their differences show up at the edges. Irgafos 168 (antioxidant 168) is usable in direct gas-fired ovens where a phenolic is not, melts at 183 to 186 °C (361 to 367 °F) rather than 50 to 55 °C, carries no EU specific migration limit as FCM 671, and degrades to its phosphate and to 2,4-di-tert-butylphenol.

Irganox 1076 vs Irganox 1135 and other liquid phenolics#

Where a plant doses liquids rather than powders, Irganox 1135 replaces Irganox 1076: it is a liquid UVCB of C7 to C9 branched alkyl esters of the same hindered phenol, around 390 g/mol, used mainly in polyols and polyurethane foam at 0.15 to 0.5 wt%. Liquid dosing removes dust handling, the same problem the FD grade of Irganox 1076 addresses with dust-free pastilles.

That convenience has a regulatory cost. Irganox 1135 is on neither the EU Union list of Regulation (EU) No 10/2011 nor 21 CFR 178.2010, so it is not a food-contact option in either jurisdiction, while Irganox 1076 is listed in both.

Who Manufactures Irganox 1076? Grades, Equivalents and Suppliers#

Irganox 1076 is made by BASF, which has owned the Irganox brand since it acquired Ciba in 2009, and by Songwon, Adeka and Sumitomo Chemical, each selling the same CAS 2082-79-3 under its own name. Generic producers in China and India sell the substance as antioxidant 1076 without a brand name, which turns specification discipline into a purchasing task.

Scale is easier to read from regulatory filings than from company statements. EPA Chemical Data Reporting puts the US production and import volume of Irganox 1076 at 25 to under 40 million pounds for 2023, and Mordor Intelligence sizes the plastic antioxidant market at USD 5.41 billion in 2025, with phenolics at 39.72 % of that revenue. Locations, grades and certifications for polymer antioxidant manufacturers and suppliers are compared in the directory.

Table T8. Producers and grades of CAS 2082-79-3.

Buyers should ask for the assay, the volatiles and the transmittance figures on the supplier's own certificate of analysis, because a generic "antioxidant 1076" is not automatically the same specification as a branded grade even though the CAS number is identical. Physical form is the second question, since powder, granules and pastilles behave differently in a gravimetric feeder.

To check any other grade number against its CAS number, use the plastic additive trade name lookup.

How Does Irganox 1076 Fit into the Wider Antioxidant Family?#

Irganox 1076 is the third-largest polymer antioxidant by reported US volume, behind Irganox 1010 and Irgafos 168: EPA Chemical Data Reporting puts it at 25 to under 40 million pounds for 2023, against 40 to under 55 million pounds for each of the other two. The family it belongs to divides into primary antioxidants, which include hindered phenols, aminics, hydroxylamines and lactones, and secondary antioxidants, which include phosphites, phosphonites and thioesters.

Growth is not distributed evenly across those classes. Mordor Intelligence puts phenolics at 39.72 % of plastic antioxidant revenue in 2025 and names phosphite and phosphonite antioxidants as the fastest-growing class at a 6.18 % compound annual growth rate.

Aminic antioxidants are more effective than phenols but discolour strongly, which keeps them out of food packaging and light-coloured articles. All types of antioxidants and their market shares are compared on the family hub.

Degradation products and NIAS: what analysts find in packaging#

Every antioxidant leaves something behind: a phenol such as Irganox 1076 ends as quinone methides, while its usual partner Irgafos 168 oxidises to tris(2,4-di-tert-butylphenyl) phosphate and releases 2,4-di-tert-butylphenol, a non-intentionally added substance that is not on the EU Union list. Our source library names no transformation product specific to Irganox 1076, so this page describes the class behaviour and names only the sourced Irgafos degradants.

Measured concentrations exist for the phosphite side of the pair. Qian and colleagues (2018) found 2,4-di-tert-butylphenol in BOPP and LDPE food-contact products at up to 45.568 ± 31.513 mg/kg, and Han and colleagues (2024) measured synthetic phenolic antioxidants in Chinese food-contact materials at a median of 2,615.63 µg/kg. 2,4-di-tert-butylphenol is a textbook case of NIAS: non-intentionally added substances arising from a stabiliser package.

Which additive classes are acceptable in additives for food packaging depends on exactly these transformation products, because a compliant substance can still produce a degradant with no Union list entry.

Antioxidant 1076 outside plastics#

The same molecule is sold outside plastics as a coatings, adhesive, rubber and lubricant antioxidant, dosed in powder and coil coatings at 1 to 2 wt% on solids, but those uses sit outside the scope of this reference, which covers additives in plastics. Suppliers list it as a rubber chemical under the generic name antioxidant 1076, and BASF sells separate L-series grades for fuels and lubricants that are not plastics additives.

This page gives no dosage guidance for those markets beyond the sourced coatings figure. Rubber uses a different toolkit, covered only where it overlaps with plastics on antioxidants for rubber.

Is Irganox 1076 banned anywhere?#

No: Irganox 1076 is not restricted under REACH Annex XVII, is not on the Candidate List in the sources checked as of 22 September 2026, and is authorised for food contact in both the EU and the US within the stated limits. That answer covers the instruments this page tracks, not the world; its California Proposition 65 status is not verified.

What dosage of Irganox 1076 does polypropylene need?#

Supplier guidance puts Irganox 1076 at 0.1 to 0.4 wt% in polyolefins, while commodity PP grades leave the reactor with under 400 ppm (0.04 wt%) of phenolic antioxidant as base stabilisation, so the compounder's addition depends on how much service life the part has to deliver. Standard blends pair it with a phosphite between 1:1 and 4:1 phosphite to phenol. Convert wt%, ppm and cost per tonne in the additive dosage and cost-in-use calculator.

Does Irganox 1076 need an SDS?#

Yes: suppliers issue a safety data sheet for Irganox 1076 as for any traded chemical, even though the substance has no harmonised CLP classification. The sheet comes from the supplier of the specific grade, because self-classifications and impurity profiles differ between producers.