Two separate reasons to care. The first is your plating line, where silicone residue costs you rework that nobody traces back to the die spray. The second is EU law, where the siloxane limit has been in force since 6 June 2026.
If a casting is going to be plated, painted or anodised, the release agent for that part must be formulated without silicone. This is not a preference — it is a process requirement, and the mechanism is well documented in surface-treatment practice.
Silicone migrates into the surface micro-porosity of the casting at die temperature. Standard acid pre-treatment does not fully remove it. The residue left behind acts as an insulating layer, and the anodic or plated coating cannot form or adhere properly over it. What the finishing shop sees is blistering, peeling, or white spots across the part — and what the foundry hears is a quality complaint about castings that measured fine at the die.
We manufacture aluminium release agents from 280 to 3,200 t including grades formulated without silicone — ZP-316 is our oxidation-critical grade for pure aluminium and anodising-bound work, and zero-silicone options are available across the range.
Commission Regulation (EU) 2024/1328 amends REACH Annex XVII entry 70 for three cyclic siloxanes. The restriction date that matters to a foundry is 6 June 2026.
| Substance | CAS | EC | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| Octamethylcyclotetrasiloxane (D4) | 556-67-2 | 209-136-7 | Restricted; SVHC |
| Decamethylcyclopentasiloxane (D5) | 541-02-6 | 208-764-9 | Restricted; SVHC |
| Dodecamethylcyclohexasiloxane (D6) | 540-97-6 | 208-762-8 | Restricted; SVHC |
From that date, each of these substances may not be placed on the EU market at 0.1% or more by weight, whether as the substance itself, as a constituent of another substance, or in a mixture. All three are identified as substances of very high concern, on the basis of persistence and bioaccumulation.
For a foundry the operative phrase is “in a mixture”. A release agent is a mixture. If you buy a silicone-containing die spray and place it on the EU market — or place castings on the market where the obligation reaches the mixture — the concentration question is now a document question, and the document you need is a composition declaration, not a datasheet summary.
It is worth being precise, because the internet is not. The restriction is a concentration limit with defined exemptions, not a ban on silicone-based release agents as a product category.
The regulation keeps a set of exemptions, and one of them is directly relevant to casting: mixtures used for bonding, sealing, adhesives and casting, where D4, D5 or D6 are present as residues in silicone polymers at up to 1% each, are exempt from the mixture limit. There are separate accommodations for specific high-performance and mould-making uses.
So the correct question is not “is silicone banned”, it is “what is in my drum, at what concentration, and under which exemption does it sit?” That question can only be answered with a composition declaration from the supplier.
We are a release agent manufacturer, not a regulatory authority. The summary above reflects the regulation as published and is offered so your own compliance and quality people know what to check. Your legal position depends on your products, your mixtures and your market. Confirm it with your own regulatory team against the official text.
The full composition declaration, so your quality and surface-treatment colleagues can check it against your own process and your own REACH file.
The SDS for the specific grade, not a generic family sheet. If you need it in a particular format for your internal system, say so.
A written protocol so your team runs the sample on the same die against your current product and judges with your own scrap figures.
European Commission. “Commission Regulation (EU) 2024/1328 of 16 May 2024 Amending Annex XVII to Regulation (EC)
No 1907/2006 … as Regards Octamethylcyclotetrasiloxane (D4), Decamethylcyclopentasiloxane (D5) and
Dodecamethylcyclohexasiloxane (D6).” Official Journal of the European Union, 17 May 2024.
ELI: reg/2024/1328/oj; CELEX: 32024R1328.
“Anodizing Aluminium Process: A Complete Guide for Die Casting Parts.” Inox Casting.
“Releasing, Cooling and Protecting — The Significance of Release Agents for Die Casting Technology.”
EUROGUSS, 2019.
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The questions buyers actually ask before the first drum. Answered without marketing language.
Silicone migrates into the surface micro-porosity of the casting at die temperature, and standard acid pre-treatment does not fully remove it. The residue then acts as an insulating layer that inhibits coating growth and adhesion, which shows up as blistering, peeling or white spots after plating and anodising.
It amends REACH Annex XVII entry 70 for the cyclic siloxanes D4, D5 and D6. From 6 June 2026 those substances may not be placed on the EU market at 0.1% or more by weight, either as the substance itself, as a constituent of another substance, or in a mixture. All three are also identified as substances of very high concern.
Not automatically — the restriction is a concentration limit with defined exemptions, not a blanket ban on the product category. The regulation keeps specific exemptions, including one for mixtures used in casting where D4, D5 or D6 are present as residues in silicone polymers at up to 1% each. The practical question is what your specific mixture contains, and that has to be answered by a composition declaration rather than by assumption.
Yes. Every enquiry can include the composition declaration and the safety data sheet, so your quality and surface-treatment colleagues can check the product against your own process before anyone discusses drums.
No — we offer both. We manufacture silicone-free grades for parts that go to plating, painting or anodising, and silicone-containing grades where maximum release performance on non-coated parts matters more. The grade should follow the downstream process.