TOTM (Trioctyl Trimellitate) Plasticizer: Properties, Uses in PVC and Regulatory Status

TOTM (trioctyl trimellitate, systematically tris(2-ethylhexyl) trimellitate; CAS 3319-31-1) is a trimellitate ester used as a low-volatility, high-temperature plasticizer for flexible PVC, and it is the standard choice where a compound has to stay flexible after years at elevated temperature. Because TOTM carries three ester arms instead of the two of a phthalate or a terephthalate, its molecule is about 40 % heavier at 546.8 g/mol, which raises the question of what that extra mass buys a formulator.

The regulatory position is short. TOTM is registered under REACH, is not a Substance of Very High Concern, is not restricted under REACH Annex XVII, and is not on the Union list in Annex I of Regulation (EU) No 10/2011 for food-contact plastics, all as of 23 September 2026. TOTM is one of 56 plasticizer 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, plasticization mechanism, measured physical constants, the 35 wt% typical level in PVC and its conversion from phr, 5 application areas, thermal performance against DOTP and DOA, the dated regulatory matrix, the hazard record, the comparison with TINTM, DIDP, DPHP and polymeric plasticizers, and the trade names a buyer can source.

Table T1. TOTM identity card.

Footnote: identity and physical data from PubChem CID 18725; REACH status from ECHA registration dossier 14933; food-contact status from the consolidated text of Regulation (EU) No 10/2011 of 14 July 2026. Status as of 23 September 2026.

Not to be confused with the unrelated consumer brand, military ration programme and texting abbreviation that share the letters TOTM; this page covers only the plasticizer, CAS 3319-31-1.

What Is TOTM (Trioctyl Trimellitate)?#

TOTM is the tris(2-ethylhexyl) ester of trimellitic acid (benzene-1,2,4-tricarboxylic acid), a primary plasticizer that softens PVC on its own without a second plasticizer. The parent acid carries three carboxyl groups on one benzene ring, at positions 1, 2 and 4, and each is esterified with 2-ethylhexanol, the same branched C8 alcohol that builds DEHP and DOTP. The result has the formula C33H54O6, a molecular weight of 546.8 g/mol and three ester groups where a phthalate has two. Which substance, then, does the trade name TOTM actually cover?

A primary plasticizer is defined by behaviour in the resin rather than by chemistry. ASTM D883 defines a plasticizer as a substance incorporated into a plastic or elastomer to increase its flexibility, workability or distensibility, and a primary plasticizer is compatible enough with PVC to do that as the sole softener, as phthalates, terephthalates and trimellitates all are. Plasticizers are the heaviest additive family in polymers by weight, and the hub on plasticizers for plastics compares every class, from ortho-phthalates and terephthalates to adipates, citrates and epoxidised esters. TOTM's place in that hub is the high-temperature group, which is why it appears in cable, automotive and medical specifications rather than in general-purpose film.

What does TOTM stand for?#

TOTM stands for trioctyl trimellitate, where "trioctyl" means three branched 2-ethylhexyl groups, not straight n-octyl chains. The same trade convention makes DOP mean DEHP rather than the linear n-octyl ester, so a reader who needs certainty reads the CAS number, 3319-31-1, and not the alkyl name. Two further forms appear on supplier paperwork: TEHTM and tri-2-ethylhexyl trimellitate.

Is TOTM a phthalate?#

TOTM is not a phthalate: a phthalate is a diester of benzene-1,2-dicarboxylic acid, while TOTM is a triester of benzene-1,2,4-tricarboxylic acid, so it carries a third ester arm that no phthalate has. That extra arm is also why the EU phthalate restrictions in REACH Annex XVII entries 51 and 52 do not name TOTM. US EPA usage and supplier literature both define "phthalate" narrowly, as a dialkyl ortho-phthalate ester, which places TOTM among the non-phthalate plasticizers, the group regulators treat separately from the ortho-phthalates. Supplier literature markets TOTM as phthalate-free; this page states the acid class and the restriction entries instead, because a marketing label is not a regulatory status.

How does a trimellitate differ from a phthalate?#

A trimellitate differs from a phthalate by one extra ester arm, which raises the molecular weight from 390.6 g/mol for DEHP to 546.8 g/mol for TOTM and lowers the vapour pressure accordingly. Hallstar's ester selection guide states the rule behind that difference: longer or bulkier ester structures lower volatility and cost low-temperature flexibility and processability in exchange. The bulk also costs softening power, so TOTM's typical substitution factor is 1.11 against DEHP's reference value of 1.00. The phthalate it most often replaces in heat-rated compounds, DEHP (DOP, dioctyl phthalate), carries a harmonised Repr. 1B classification; TOTM has no harmonised classification.

Is TOTM the same as TEHTM?#

Yes: TOTM and TEHTM are two abbreviations for the same substance, CAS 3319-31-1; TEHTM is the systematic form (tris(2-ethylhexyl) trimellitate), TOTM the trade form. Both appear on the same certificates of analysis, together with trioctyl trimellitate and tri-2-ethylhexyl trimellitate, and all four names carry EC number 222-020-0.

How Does TOTM Plasticize PVC?#

TOTM plasticizes PVC by placing its ester molecules between the polymer chains, weakening the dipole and van der Waals forces between them and lowering the glass transition temperature. The three ester carbonyls solvate PVC at its polar carbon-chlorine bonds, while the branched 2-ethylhexyl tails hold neighbouring chains apart and create free volume. Compatibility limits that process: Hallstar's ester selection guide puts the workable solubility-parameter difference between polymer and plasticizer at ±1.5 (cal/cm3)^0.5, and its polarity ranking places the trimellitates just below the aromatic diesters such as the phthalates and above the aliphatic diesters such as the adipates.

Why does a bigger molecule stay in the compound longer? Three ester arms and a molecular weight of 546.8 g/mol give TOTM a very low vapour pressure and low migration, and the same bulk that suppresses evaporation slows diffusion through the polymer matrix, which is what formulators call permanence. The four theories behind the softening itself are explained on how plasticizers work.

The 4 classic plasticization theories are listed below.

• Lubricity theory: the plasticizer lubricates the polymer chains, letting them slide past one another.
• Gel theory: the plasticizer breaks the polymer-polymer attachments that form a three-dimensional gel.
• Free-volume theory: the plasticizer raises the free volume and so lowers the glass transition temperature.
• Mechanistic theory: plasticization is a dynamic solvation and desolvation equilibrium at the polar sites.

A floor applies to the dose. Below about 15 phr, antiplasticization raises stiffness instead of lowering it, so TOTM is used well clear of that threshold. A plasticizer never works alone in PVC either, because the compound also needs a heat stabilizer, a lubricant and usually a filler; the full package is on additives for PVC.

What Are the Physical and Chemical Properties of TOTM?#

TOTM is a yellow oily liquid with a melting point of -46 °C (-50.8 °F), a boiling point of 414 °C (777.2 °F) and a closed-cup flash point of 263 °C (505 °F). Those values, and the identifiers beside them, come from PubChem CID 18725.

Table T2. TOTM physical and chemical properties.

PubChem records two flash-point entries for TOTM, 263 °C (505 °F) closed cup and an older NTP value of "greater than 200 °F", so check which figure a supplier's data sheet uses before writing a specification. Three properties formulators ask for first, density, viscosity and vapour pressure, are absent from our verified data set, and this page prints none of them rather than copying a number from a product page. That gap matters because low volatility is the property TOTM is sold on, and vapour pressure is the number that would quantify it.

Which Polymers Use TOTM, and at What Dosage?#

TOTM is used almost entirely in flexible PVC, at a typical level of 35 wt% according to ECHA's plastic-additives mapping, within the 5 to 65 wt% that flexible PVC compounds carry in total. Wiesinger and colleagues give that 5 to 65 wt% class range in Environmental Science and Technology (2024), across compounds running from 50 to 90 Shore A. In polar rubbers TOTM serves as an ester softener rather than as the main plasticizer, and no dosage for that use sits in our data set.

How do phr values convert to weight percent? The conversion is wt% = phr of the ingredient divided by the total phr of the formulation, multiplied by 100, so 100 phr PVC plus 50 phr TOTM gives 50 divided by 150, or 33.3 wt% TOTM. A real recipe also carries stabilizer, filler and lubricant, so the divisor has to be the full formulation total and not resin plus plasticizer alone. Compound recipes give TOTM in PHR (parts per hundred resin), which is why a supplier figure in phr and a regulatory figure in wt% never match without that step.

Table T3. TOTM levels by polymer and evidence type.

TOTM in flexible PVC compounds#

TOTM is a less efficient softener than DEHP: its typical substitution factor is 1.11, so a compound needs about 11 % more TOTM than DEHP to reach the same hardness. That factor is a typical figure from a single secondary source rather than supplier data, and it is quoted with that qualification throughout. At the 35 wt% typical level in the ECHA mapping, a flexible PVC compound lands mid-way in the 50 to 90 Shore A band, well above the roughly 15 phr floor below which antiplasticization raises stiffness. The consequence is a recipe cost above a general-purpose ester at equal hardness, paid for by permanence at temperature. TOTM competes with DIDP, DPHP and DOTP across the plasticizers for PVC range.

TOTM in PVC medical tubing and blood bags#

PVC medical lines plasticized with TOTM were measured at 30.3 to 41.0 wt% by Bernard and colleagues (PLoS One, 2018), the widest band of the four DEHP alternatives they analysed. The same study measured 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%, so a switch away from DEHP does not lower the plasticizer load. The European Pharmacopoeia lists TOTM among the DEHP alternatives for PVC blood containers, alongside DINCH, BTHC and DEHT. Sterilization stability and the rest of the DEHP-free package are covered on additives for medical plastics.

TOTM in rubber compounds (NBR, CR)#

TOTM also serves as an ester softener in polar rubbers such as NBR and CR, while non-polar EPDM is essentially incompatible with ester plasticizers and uses paraffinic or naphthenic oils instead. The ester softeners named for those polar rubbers in the Hallstar guide are DOS, DOA, DOTP, DBA, Mesamoll and TOTM.

What Is TOTM Used For? 5 Applications in Plastics#

TOTM is used in 5 main plastics applications: high-temperature wire and cable, automotive interiors, medical tubing, appliance gaskets and hoses. The first three come from the substance record itself, and the last two from Eastman's own application list for its TOTM grade.

• High-temperature wire and cable insulation and jacketing
• Automotive interior sheet, trim and calendered skin, where fogging is specified
• Medical tubing, infusion lines and blood containers
• Appliance gaskets, including dishwasher door seals
• Hoses, including garden hose, and photograph storage sleeves

High-temperature wire and cable#

TOTM is the plasticizer PVC compounders reach for when an insulation compound has to survive continuous service above the 70 to 90 °C range that DIDP and DINP cover. Cable insulation tests permanence hardest, because the conductor runs warm for the whole service life and every gram of ester lost makes the insulation more brittle. The 70 to 105 °C classes and which ester covers each one are tabulated on plasticizers for wire and cable.

Supplier literature positions TOTM as the plasticizer for 105 °C-rated PVC insulation; we are verifying that rating against UL 1581 and the manufacturer's data sheet before stating it as a fact. What our data set holds is a thermal measurement: Kaya and colleagues recorded a decomposition onset of 262 °C for a PVC cable compound with 50 phr TOTM against 236 °C for the same compound with DOA (Polymers, 2026).

A cable compound is never plasticizer alone. The reference PVC insulation recipe in our formulation data carries PVC K70 100 phr, plasticizer 55 phr, lead-free stabilizer 2.7 phr, aluminium trihydroxide 45 to 100 phr, zinc borate 5 phr and chalk 10 phr, and it has to reach a limiting oxygen index of at least 26 vol% O2. That whole insulation package is on additives for wire and cable compounds.

Automotive interiors and low fogging#

Automotive interior specifications are the second reason formulators choose TOTM: fogging, the condensation of semi-volatile additives on the windscreen, is measured by DIN 75201 and VDA 278, and trimellitates are the ester class selected to keep those values down. An interior PVC skin sits behind glass in a cabin that runs hot in summer, so any additive with a measurable vapour pressure leaves the part and returns as a film on the glass. Which esters OEM interior specifications accept is the subject of low-fogging plasticizers for automotive interiors.

The test methods come as a family. DIN 75201 measures fogging by the gravimetric or reflectometric route, VDA 278 splits the emission into a VOC value and a FOG value by thermal desorption, VDA 270 rates odour, and ISO 6452 and SAE J1756 cover the same ground in the international and North American systems. No fogging value, FOG number or OEM limit for TOTM sits in our verified data set, and OEM limits differ by manufacturer, so this page names the methods and prints no number.

Interior PVC is one part of a wider package that also includes heat stabilizers, UV stabilizers and pigments chosen under the same emission constraints, described under additives for automotive plastics.

Medical tubing and DEHP-free devices#

TOTM is one of the 4 DEHP alternatives the European Pharmacopoeia lists for PVC blood containers, alongside DINCH, BTHC and DEHT. The regulatory driver is dated: Regulation (EU) 2023/2482 sets the latest application date for DEHP in EU medical devices at 1 January 2029 and the sunset date at 1 July 2030, and Annex I section 10.4.1 of the Medical Device Regulation (EU) 2017/745 requires justification and labelling where a device contains a CMR 1A or 1B substance or an endocrine disruptor above 0.1 % w/w.

Substitution does not remove the plasticizer question. Cleys and colleagues found relevant amounts of TOTM, DEHT and DEHP in neonatal respiratory devices (Journal of Applied Toxicology, 2026), so the alternative esters are themselves present in the patient-contact path. The four Ph. Eur. alternatives are compared on plasticizers for medical devices.

Gaskets, hoses and appliance parts#

Eastman lists dishwasher gaskets, garden hose and photograph storage among TOTM's uses, all cases where a plasticizer has to stay in the article rather than migrate into what the article touches. No dosage or performance value for these three uses sits in our data set, so this page records the application and not a recipe.

How Does TOTM Perform in PVC?#

TOTM buys permanence at the cost of efficiency: its typical substitution factor is 1.11 against DEHP's reference value of 1.00, the same figure recorded for DIDP and higher than DOTP's 1.03. That trade is the general rule for ester plasticizers, stated by Hallstar as the chain-length effect: bulkier ester structures lower volatility and worsen low-temperature flexibility and processability together. The one direct thermal measurement in our data set runs the same way, a decomposition onset of 262 °C for TOTM at 50 phr in a PVC cable compound (Kaya et al., Polymers, 2026).

Table T4. TOTM performance indicators and their test methods.

Footnote: substitution factors are typical figures from one secondary source (Kanademy), not supplier data. Empty value cells mean the number is not yet in our verified data set, not that the property is irrelevant.

Substitution factors for 15 plasticizers, and the Shore A basis they are measured on, are listed on plasticizer efficiency and substitution factors.

Does TOTM resist heat better than DOTP and DOA?#

In the one thermal comparison in our data set, yes: Kaya and colleagues (Polymers, 2026) measured a decomposition onset of 262 °C for a PVC cable compound with 50 phr TOTM against 236 °C for the same compound with DOA. In the same study TOTM and DOTP both sat roughly 7 °C above the other plasticized PVC samples, which puts the terephthalate close behind the trimellitate on this indicator. One study, one loading of 50 phr and one compound stand behind that result, so it says nothing about a service temperature or a rated insulation class. Formulators also use the difference the other way, blending DOTP, DOA and TOTM to balance cold flexibility against heat resistance in one recipe.

How are TOTM volatility, migration and fogging measured?#

Plasticizer volatility is measured by ASTM D1203 or ISO 176, migration by ISO 177, extraction by ASTM D1239, and interior fogging by DIN 75201 or VDA 278. ASTM D1203, ISO 177 and ASTM D1239, and what each one actually simulates, are explained on plasticizer migration.

The 3 method families differ in what carries the plasticizer out of the specimen.

• Volatility methods: ASTM D1203 Method A (direct carbon contact) and Method B (wire cage), plus ISO 176, drive the plasticizer out as vapour at elevated temperature.
• Migration methods: ISO 177 presses the specimen between absorbent backing discs, so the plasticizer moves into a solid.
• Extraction methods: ASTM D1239 exposes the specimen to hexane, soapy water and mineral oil, so the plasticizer leaves into a liquid.

Fogging sits apart from the three because it measures what condenses, not what is lost. The chamber conditions behind DIN 75201 and VDA 278, and the VDA 270 odour rating that accompanies them, are set out on fogging and VOC testing. This page publishes no TOTM value against any of these methods, because none is in our verified data set.

How Does TOTM Interact with Other Plasticizers and Additives?#

TOTM is usually blended rather than used alone: formulators combine it with DOA for low-temperature flexibility, with DOTP for cost and processability, and with ESBO as a co-stabilizer. The 3 partner esters and what each contributes are listed below.

• DOA / DEHA (dioctyl adipate) is the partner ester for low-temperature flexibility, and the weakest of the three on heat, at a decomposition onset of 236 °C against TOTM's 262 °C at 50 phr (Kaya et al., 2026).
• DOTP (DEHT) brings efficiency and cost, with a typical substitution factor of 1.03 against TOTM's 1.11, and sits within about 7 °C of TOTM on decomposition onset.
• ESBO (epoxidized soybean oil) works as a co-stabilizer at 1 to 2 wt%, scavenging hydrogen chloride during processing, and as a main plasticizer at 25 to 45 wt% (Czogała et al., 2021).

Every blend obeys the same compatibility rule as a single plasticizer: the solubility-parameter difference between PVC and each ester has to stay within ±1.5 (cal/cm3)^0.5. A high-temperature PVC cable compound also carries a heat stabilizer, aluminium trihydroxide and zinc borate and has to clear a limiting oxygen index of 26 vol% O2. ESBO (epoxidized soybean oil) is the additive that most often shares a recipe with TOTM, because both are chosen for compounds that must survive heat.

What Is the Regulatory Status of TOTM?#

TOTM is REACH-registered, is not a Substance of Very High Concern, is not restricted under REACH Annex XVII, and is not on the Union list of substances authorised for EU food-contact plastics (status 23 September 2026). Three cells of the matrix below are open rather than negative: the US FDA food-contact status, the TSCA status and the California Proposition 65 status are not in our verified data set, and this page marks them as being verified.

Table T5. TOTM regulatory matrix, status as of 23 September 2026.

Entries 51 and 52 of Annex XVII name phthalates and not trimellitates, and what each entry actually covers, article scope for entry 51 and mouthable toys and childcare articles for entry 52, is explained on REACH Annex XVII restrictions.

Is TOTM REACH registered, and is it an SVHC?#

Yes, TOTM is registered under REACH (Regulation (EC) No 1907/2006) with an active dossier, and no, it is not a Substance of Very High Concern: it is absent from the Candidate List as of 23 September 2026. DEHP has been on the SVHC Candidate List since 28 October 2008 and carries Annex XIV entry 4; TOTM has never been added to either list. ECHA's November 2023 investigation of PVC additives covered 63 substances and recommended a REACH restriction on ortho-phthalate plasticisers and organotin stabilisers, not on trimellitates. The registered tonnage band is not captured in our data set, so this page states registration status without a volume.

Is TOTM allowed in food-contact plastics?#

No, not in the EU: TOTM does not appear on the Union list in Annex I of Regulation (EU) No 10/2011, so it carries no FCM number and no specific migration limit, unlike DOTP, which is listed as FCM 798 with an SML of 60 mg/kg. How the Union list works, and why absence from a positive list is not a prohibition of the substance itself, is explained on EU 10/2011, read here in the consolidated text of 14 July 2026.

TOTM is also outside group restriction 32, the plasticiser group with a total specific migration limit of 60 mg/kg. That group covers FCM numbers 8, 72, 73, 138, 140, 157, 159, 207, 242, 283, 532, 670, 728, 729, 775, 783, 797, 798, 810, 815, 1078 and 1085, and none of them is TOTM.

The US position is the open one. The FDA food-contact status of TOTM is being verified against 21 CFR 178.3740, the section covering plasticizers in polymeric substances, and against the food-contact notification inventory, and this page will state a section or FCN number when that check closes rather than the phrase "FDA approved". Which plasticizers are authorised, and at what migration limit, is tabulated on plasticizers in food contact materials.

Is TOTM restricted in toys and childcare articles?#

TOTM is not restricted in toys under REACH Annex XVII, US 16 CFR 1307 or Canada's SOR/2016-188, because none of these rules lists it. The US rule restricts DEHP, DBP and BBP permanently and added DINP, DIBP, DPENP, DHEXP and DCHP from 25 April 2018, which makes 8 restricted phthalates in total; the 8 are listed on CPSIA phthalate limits. Canada's SOR/2016-188 names DEHP, DBP, BBP, DINP, DIDP and DNOP. The Toy Safety Regulation (EU) 2025/2509 works by property rather than by name, banning CMR substances and endocrine disruptors in toys from 1 August 2030, and TOTM has no harmonised CMR classification to trigger it.

Is TOTM listed under California Proposition 65?#

TOTM does not appear on our verified list of Proposition 65 plasticizer listings, which names DEHP (cancer 1 January 1988; developmental and male reproductive toxicity 24 October 2003), DBP, BBP, DIDP and DINP; we are confirming TOTM's absence against the current OEHHA list before stating it as a fact. Listing dates for every plasticizer we track are on California Proposition 65.

Is TOTM Safe? Health, Safety and Environmental Profile#

TOTM has no harmonised hazard classification under the EU CLP Regulation (EC) No 1272/2008, and 330 of the 370 companies that notified it to ECHA report that it does not meet the GHS hazard criteria. The classification and labelling inventory records the substance as not classified, and TOTM is not listed under the EU POPs Regulation (EU) 2019/1021. The 3 statements that make up the substance's hazard record are listed below.

• Harmonised classification: none under CLP Annex VI, so no hazard statement is mandatory on the label.
• Industry notifications: 330 of 370 notifiers report no GHS hazard, and 40 do classify the substance, a minority position but not an empty one.
• What is not known: no LD50, no NOAEL, no ECHA substance evaluation and no regulatory risk assessment for TOTM is in our verified data set.

That last line is the honest limit of this page. An absence of classification is an absence of a finding, not a demonstration of safety, and the phrase "safer alternative" that circulates in marketing copy is not a statement any regulator has made about CAS 3319-31-1. The literature records presence rather than harm: Cleys and colleagues found relevant amounts of TOTM, DEHT and DEHP in neonatal respiratory devices (Journal of Applied Toxicology, 2026), and Bernard and colleagues measured TOTM at 30.3 to 41.0 wt% in French PVC medical lines (PLoS One, 2018).

Concern about ortho-phthalates does not transfer automatically in either direction. The effects summarised on phthalates: health effects were established for ortho-phthalate esters carrying harmonised reproductive-toxicity classifications, and TOTM is a different acid class with no such classification, so neither the concern nor the reassurance carries across without its own data.

What Are the Alternatives to TOTM?#

The 4 main alternatives to TOTM in high-temperature flexible PVC are TINTM, DIDP, DPHP and polymeric plasticizers, while DOTP is the general-purpose ester formulators compare it against on cost. The table below sets the five against TOTM on identity, regulatory status and typical efficiency, with DTDP added as the heaviest ortho-phthalate in the same competitive set.

Table T6. TOTM compared with 5 alternative plasticizers.

Footnote: SF values are typical figures from one secondary source (Kanademy), not supplier data. "Not on the Union list" means the substance is absent from Annex I of Regulation (EU) No 10/2011 in the consolidated text of 14 July 2026.

Full property data for the five leading esters sit on the plasticizer comparison page.

TOTM vs DOTP (DEHT)#

TOTM is the better choice when the compound has to hold its plasticizer at high temperature, and DOTP is the better choice on efficiency, cost and food contact: TOTM's typical substitution factor is 1.11 against DOTP's 1.03, and DOTP is authorised for EU food-contact plastics as FCM 798 with an SML of 60 mg/kg while TOTM is not on the Union list. The molecular-weight gap explains the split, with DOTP at 390.6 g/mol against TOTM's 546.8 g/mol, the same 40 % difference that separates TOTM from DEHP. On thermal stability the two are closer than the weight difference suggests: Kaya and colleagues put TOTM and DOTP within about 7 °C of each other and above the other plasticized PVC samples, with TOTM's decomposition onset at 262 °C (Polymers, 2026). DOTP / DEHT (dioctyl terephthalate) therefore wins most general-purpose PVC work on price and authorisation, and loses the specifications written around long-term heat.

TOTM vs TINTM and the higher trimellitates#

TINTM (triisononyl trimellitate, CAS 53894-23-8) is the next step up the trimellitate ladder: its molecular weight of 588.9 g/mol is 42 g/mol above TOTM's, which lowers volatility further at the cost of efficiency and processability. That direction follows the Hallstar chain-length rule rather than a side-by-side test, because no head-to-head performance data for the two trimellitates sits in our data set. TINTM carries EC number 258-847-9 and the formula C36H60O6, is REACH-registered with an active dossier, is not an SVHC and is not on the Union list in Annex I, so its regulatory profile matches TOTM's on every cell we hold. Only the trade names and the alcohol differ, with Jayflex TINTM and ADK Cizer C-9N against Kodaflex, Palatinol, Morflex and Staflex, and both esters serve the same two applications, high-temperature cable and automotive. TINTM (triisononyl trimellitate) is the C9 homologue a formulator moves to when TOTM still loses too much mass at temperature.

TOTM vs DIDP and DPHP#

DIDP and DPHP are the ortho-phthalate options for the same temperature classes: both have a molecular weight of 446.7 g/mol, between DOTP's 390.6 and TOTM's 546.8, and DIDP matches TOTM's typical substitution factor of 1.11. DIDP (diisodecyl phthalate) carries CAS 68515-49-1, is authorised for EU food contact as FCM 729 under group restriction 26 with an SML(T) of 1.8 mg/kg, and covers the 70 to 90 °C cable classes together with DINP.

The regulatory difference is the decision driver. DIDP falls under REACH Annex XVII entry 52 for mouthable toys and childcare articles, carries a California Proposition 65 developmental listing dated 20 April 2007, and was found by the US EPA to present unreasonable risk to female workers of reproductive age from 6 of 49 conditions of use in the final TSCA risk evaluation at 90 FR 638, 6 January 2025. DPHP (dipropylheptyl phthalate), CAS 53306-54-0, sits in neither entry 51 nor entry 52, is not an SVHC, runs at 10 to 35 wt% in plastics per the ECHA mapping, and is marketed for cables, roofing membranes and automotive parts. TOTM is named in none of these instruments.

TOTM vs polymeric plasticizers#

Polymeric plasticizers sit one step beyond TOTM on permanence: Hallstar groups trimellitates as the high-temperature class and polymerics as the permanent class, with polymerics rated good to excellent against organic extraction and volatility but only poor to fair for low-temperature flexibility. A polymeric plasticizer is built from alternating dibasic acids of C4 to C10 and glycols of C2 to C5, end-capped by a monobasic acid or alcohol, and its higher viscosity delivers the permanence. Where an article resists oil or solvent as well as heat, polymeric plasticizers take over; where processing viscosity and cold flexibility matter, TOTM keeps the work.

Who Manufactures TOTM? Grades and Suppliers#

TOTM is sold under at least 4 trade names, Kodaflex TOTM, Palatinol TOTM, Morflex 510 and Staflex TOTM, with Eastman and BASF among the producers that list a trimellitate in their plasticizer portfolios. Eastman lists TOTM in its plasticizer portfolio alongside Eastman 168 (DOTP), the Admex polymerics and the Benzoflex benzoates, and BASF owns the Palatinol brand line under which Palatinol TOTM sits. Our source library records no manufacturer list for the substance and no owner for the Kodaflex, Morflex and Staflex names, so this page prints the trade name and leaves the owner cell open.

Table T7. TOTM trade names and recorded owners.

Footnote: grade designations such as "electrical grade" appear in distributor catalogues, but no specification for such a grade is in our verified data set, so none is described here.

Buyers should request the supplier's technical data sheet and safety data sheet, the volatility and fogging data for the specific grade, and a written statement of phthalate content, because those are the properties a purchase specification turns on and the ones this page cannot verify. More producers and their certifications are in the directory of plasticizer manufacturers, and the cost drivers behind the ester plasticizers are tracked on plasticizer prices.

How Do Trimellitates Fit into the Wider Plasticizer Family?#

TOTM is the main member of the trimellitate class, the three-armed ester group that sits beside ortho-phthalates, terephthalates, cyclohexanoates and adipates in a plasticizer family that consumes 8.4 million tonnes a year worldwide, according to the European Plasticisers factsheet of May 2020. More than 85 % of European plasticizer volume goes into flexible PVC, which is why the whole family is described by what it does to one polymer. The trimellitates are built on trimellitic anhydride and carry three ester groups instead of two, and beyond TOTM and TINTM the class includes the mixed-alcohol grades sold as 810TM and 79TM. The class as a whole is covered on trimellitate plasticizers.

What are the three types of plasticizers?#

Plasticizer suppliers such as Hallstar group specialty plasticizers into 3 types, low-temperature, high-temperature and permanent (polymeric), and TOTM sits in the high-temperature group with the other trimellitates and the pentaerythritol esters. The 3 groups and their members are listed below.

• Low-temperature plasticizers: aliphatic diesters, glycol esters and oleates, chosen for cold flexibility.
• High-temperature plasticizers: trimellitates and pentaerythritol esters, chosen for low volatility.
• Permanent plasticizers: polymerics, chosen for resistance to extraction.

Beside those three specialty groups sit the commodity esters, the ortho-phthalates and terephthalates, and a second axis separates primary plasticizers that work alone from secondary plasticizers and extenders that do not. All classes are compared on the hub for types of plasticizers.

TOTM supply and price context#

Trimellitate pricing moves with the wider plasticizer market: ResourceWise's 2025 review records that Polynt cut TOTM prices after an early-year high, and its 2026 outlook expects ample supply and flat demand. Both statements are secondary market commentary rather than a price series, and no price figure for TOTM sits in our verified data set, so this page reports direction and never a number. The same outlook points to expanding DOTP capacity in China and new DINP capacity at Deza, the supply background against which a specialty ester is quoted. Duty orders and HS codes by origin are listed under plastic additive trade; the HS code for TOTM is not yet in our data set.

Is TOTM banned anywhere?#

No: TOTM is not banned or restricted under any of the EU, US or Canadian rules covered on this page (status 23 September 2026), although it is also not authorised for EU food-contact plastics, which is an absence from a positive list rather than a ban. Country rules for the restricted esters are compared on phthalate restrictions worldwide.

Can TOTM replace DOP or DOTP one-to-one?#

No: with a typical substitution factor of 1.11, about 55.5 phr TOTM matches the hardness of 50 phr DOP, so a compound needs roughly 11 % more TOTM than DEHP and about 8 % more than DOTP. Hardness equivalence is not performance equivalence, because the substitution also changes low-temperature flexibility and processing viscosity, both of which have to be retested on the new recipe. Run the phr conversion in the plasticizer substitution calculator.

What does TOTM mean outside plastics?#

Outside plastics, the letters TOTM belong to an unrelated consumer brand, a US military ration programme and a texting abbreviation, which is why a search for the bare acronym returns almost no chemistry. This page covers only the plasticizer with CAS number 3319-31-1.