Volatile organic compounds （VOCs） are currently the core atmospheric pollutants， and the emission of VOCs during the production and use of coatings has always been concerned. Through analyzing the SPECIATE database of United States Environmental Protection Agency， the application of SPECIATE database in screening the priority VOCs of coatings industry was studied. The appropriate screening principles， procedures and methods were established， and the scoring criteria and quantitative treatment methods of VOCs were proposed. 15 kinds of coating processes were selected. Taking mass fraction， odor threshold， saturated vapor pressure， ambient multimedia environmental goal and maximum incremental reactivity as evaluation parameters，7 kinds of priority VOCs in the coatings industry were identified by grading assignment and multi-parameter comprehensive evaluation. The status quo of implementation standards for priority VOCs was investigated and compared. The revised recommendations were proposed.