BIOCIDES stringent third-party ecolabelling requirements for low-VOC and low- or no-biocide formulations.
Fortunately, the drivers of rapid change come at a time when the scientific capabilities to develop new solutions are thriving. In fact, we see a scientific revolution in microbial control emerging, with advancements in biological science, toxicology, environmental science, and advanced chemical delivery systems leading to unprecedented innovation of safer and more effective solutions.
Pressure on choices
The reduced number of active ingredients has impacted not only formulators’ ability to develop more sustainable products but also the microbial landscape within industrial formulations. The few remaining ones often share a similar MoA, creating a global selective pressure on microbial populations commonly involved in spoilage.
Through Arxada’ s global species identification programme, we have increasingly encountered organisms with heightened tolerance in industrial materials, including paints and raw ingredients. Most notably, certain Putida-family Pseudomonas species have proven particularly
90 % 80 % 70 % 60 % 50 % 40 % 30 % 20 % 10 % 0 %
Remaining IPBC in paint film after 16 days of leaching
0 % after 48 hours
( immersion test in water)
difficult to control in the current active landscape, contributing to numerous spoilage events across both industrial and consumer sectors in recent years.
The challenges currently facing the paints and coatings market mirror those in human medicine, particularly the diminishing effectiveness of antibiotics. This decline stems from the slowing pace of discovering truly novel antibiotic mechanisms, while nature responds by accelerating the spread and acquisition of antibiotic resistance genes.
Despite significant advances in screening technologies, combinatorial synthesis, and AIdriven drug discovery, no genuinely new antibiotic classes have reached clinical use in decades. Although recent breakthroughs in chemical generative AI offer hope for reversing this trend, it will likely take years before we fully understand their real-world efficacy and implications for human health.
The innovation bottleneck in new biocidal MoA means that these emerging problems are not only here to stay but are expected to be compounded. Running parallel to the regulatory-driven active substance consolidation are
Conventional IPBC Encapsulated IPBC Encapsulated IPBC
Figure 2- Leach resistance of TIME technology-based microcapsules
( new TIME process) formulation changes that increase overall susceptibility and growth potential by microbes.
Lower VOC profiles, increasing biobased or biodegradable content, and a drive of formulations away from pH extremes are compounding the problem, The pallet of remaining preservatives is often unfit for purpose.
The operational consequences and costs of insufficiently preserved materials— such as customer complaints, product rework, recalls and recoating— can be significant for both companies and consumers. These issues not only drive-up expenses and reduce sustainability but also increase the risk of exposing end-users to potentially pathogenic, spoilage-causing bacteria.
Formulations of the future will need to rely on new innovations to ensure effective preservation of materials and support the development of sustainable solutions moving forward.
Arxada’ s response
Like Willem Buckels’ world, the relatively small speciality biocides space must face these challenges with clever innovations to enable the remaining active ingredients to go beyond. We are seeing the emergence of true sustainable preservation in the market today, including the launch of leadingedge products and non-biocide ingredients that provide an array of unexpected benefits due to formulation synergies.
Arxada’ s latest platform work thus centres on multifunctionality and active delivery systems, enabling technologies engineered to amplify the performance of the remaining regulatory-compliant zero-VOC preservatives.
New products
This approach, first developed by the cosmetics industry after facing similar challenges of increasingly susceptible formulations and decreasing numbers of acceptable
NOV / DEC 2025 SPECCHEMONLINE. COM
19