Navigating the Regulatory Scene in the Coatings Industry

In recent years, there has been a growing number of regulatory burdens placed on the chemical industry. In this month’s Distribution Dive column, Eric Byer, President and CEO of the Alliance for Chemical Distribution, notes that a recent survey conducted by the American Chemistry Council found that 86% of chemical manufacturers report the overall level of regulatory burden has risen, particularly at the federal level, and they expect the volume of new regulations to rise even further.

Our cover feature this month discusses the “noise” surrounding the regulatory scene — with PFAS (per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances) in particular. In the article, The ChemQuest Group's George Pilcher takes a deep dive into the debate around this chemical that is critical to a range of industrial- and consumer-facing applications.

Pilcher states that there are anywhere between 3,700-14,000 members in the PFAS family of fluorine-containing chemical compounds in a huge array of highly diverse industries. He notes that “the major issue is not the total number of family members that are contained within the definition of PFAS, but rather, how many of them are potentially harmful, and how producers, users, and regulatory bodies are going to determine which chemicals must be eliminated from use, and which may continue to be used.”

All of this regulatory action is driving coatings suppliers to focus much of their R&D into developing PFAS alternatives — and new technology is emerging. You’ll read about one such development in this issue’s technical article from EPS. Authors Matt Andersson and Karl Booth comment that while replacing PFAS chemicals in formulated products presents significant technical challenges, in some cases, alternatives to PFAS additives with comparable performance attributes have been identified.

As PCI develops our agenda for our Coatings Trends & Technologies Summit in September, we have decided to focus some time on this issue. Plan to join us on the morning of September 5, as we kick off the CTT Summit with a panel discussion titled Navigating Materials of Concern in the Coatings Industry: A Discussion on Tightening Restrictions, the Search for Alternatives, and Impacts Across the Value Chain. We will be announcing our panelists and more details about our CTT Summit agenda in the coming months. In the meantime, you can learn more about our event here.

I expect that we will continue to report on new legislation, new materials of concern, and new replacement technology in the years to come. Stay tuned!