Coatings World - May 2014

Bridget Klebaur, Associate Editor

The market for biocides, algaecides and fungicides continues on an upward trend in 2014, with a particular focus on en- vironmental regulations and a number of new formulations.

“There has been a slight increase in the use of biocides this year,” said Walt Conti, technical specialist, strategic marketing group, and performance chemicals, Buckman USA. “ Solvent-based coatings continue to see reduced production as governments, customers, and environmentalists push toward products that are more ecological and user friendly. On the other hand, with the greater use of water-based coatings, more biocides will be needed to keep them preserved.”

Oliver Weigenand, material protection products, vice president, North and Central America, Lanxess has seen an upward trend in global demand for biocides as well.

“Overall, the global biocide demand is on an upward trend
due to new infrastructure in emerging economies which have
rising environmental awareness and stricter regulations for bio-
cides,” Weigenand said. “The recovery of the U.S. construction
market (e.g. remodeling and new constructions) will also con-
tribute for this growth.”
Lonza reported modest growth this year.

“We are seeing modest growth in the global biocide market for paints and coatings,” said David Tierney, head of global sales, Lonza Industrial Solutions. ”This is mainly driven by demand in South American and Asia.”

Environmental Compliance

One of the key drivers of the biocides market is environmental regulations. The drive for more water-based technologies means an increased need for biocides.

“Many customers require products with little or zero vol-
atile organic compounds (VOCs) being released into the at-
mosphere,” Conti said. “This includes products applied to a
substrate via spray, roller, brush, electrostatic, etc., as well as
when cured, while air drying, or under UV.”
Customers also have health concerns when using a biocide in
a water-based product. “The answer is that there will always be
some risk when utilizing a product that was developed to kill or
minimize bacterial growth, so some type of precaution should
always be taken,” Conti said.

Customers continue to look for “low to no” VOC biocides, increased product life, environmentally friendly products and formaldehyde free materials.

“In Europe, in particular, there is an increased concern re-
garding sensitizing substances,” Weigenand. “EUH208 requires
a new warning phrase that reduces considerably the dosage of
some well-known molecules in the market (e.g. BIT, MIT, etc).
This change will take place in 2015 and will create opportuni-
ties for new or existing molecules to be used in different combi-
nations for the paints & coatings industry.”
Paint manufacturers are interested in lower sensitizing
molecules and lower release of the active compounds into
the environment.

“This is driven by both governmental regulations as well as NGO’s such as Greenshield in USA,” said Tierney. ”As an example, forthcoming CLP regulations in Europe will drive the need for enhanced activity of existing active compounds at the same or lower concentrations than are currently used. Further changes to the classification of certain actives will impact upon the choices made by downstream users. Use of formaldehyde and formaldehyde-release technologies will continue to come under increasing regulatory pressure as a result of these trends.”

New Formulations

Biocides manufacturers have launched a number of new products this year.

Buckman reported that its Oxamine chemistry has been greeted with great success and a lot of interest.

“Buckman has also been involved with enzymes for several
years and enzyme technology continues to grow as well,” Conti
said. “Lastly, blends of existing chemistries have been formu-
lated due to the costs associated with the EPA, testing, and reg-
istrations of new chemistries.”
In the U.S., Troy introduced Polyphase S99, an innovative
broad-spectrum fungicide plus algaecide that offers long-term
performance and lowest cost-in-use. Troy developed S99 with the
intention of providing USA customers with the advanced product
technology they will need to succeed in the years to come.