CompoAtlas

Dimethylaminoéthanol in food supplements

22 supplements declared in France contain Dimethylaminoéthanol as a substance or active ingredient.

Other names in the Compl'Alim list: Dimethylethanolamine, DMAE.

Compl'Alim declarations. Compl'Alim, food supplement declarations (France), retrieved 23 October 2026.

What we know about this ingredient

Uses

  • CHEM INT FOR ANTIHISTAMINES AND LOCAL ANESTHETICS; CATALYST FOR CURING EPOXY RESINS AND POLYURETHANES; PH CONTROL AGENT FOR BOILER WATER TREATMENT

  • Intermediate in the synthesis of dyestuffs, textile auxiliaries, pharmaceuticals, and corrosion inhibitors; curing epoxy, amine, and polyamide resins; emulsifier in paints and coatings.

  • Solvent and ligand in organic synthesis; accelerator in epoxy resin formulations. As corrosion inhibitor in steel-reinforced concrete. Salts as dietary supplement, tonic. In cosmetics as antiwrinkle and skin firming agent.

  • Used to scavenge hydrochloric acid which is released when methylene chloride decomposes after use as a paint or varnish remover

  • Calculated removal (%): 92.1

  • Consumption (g per capita; approx.) in Germany (2009): 0.00916

  • Excretion rate: 1

  • Use (kg; approx.) in Germany (2009): >750

PubChem : Hazardous Substances Data Bank (HSDB) · 2026-10-29 · SRI; Lewis, R.J. Sr.; Hawley's Condensed Chemical Dictionary 15th Edition. John Wiley & Sons, Inc. New York, NY 2007., p. 443; O'Neil, M.J. (ed.). The Merck Index - An Encyclopedia of Chemicals, Drugs, and Biologicals. Cambridge, UK: Royal Society of Chemistry, 2013., p. 512; KIRK-OTHMER ENCYC CHEM TECH 3RD ED 1978-PRESENT V16 p.763.

Licence.

PubChem : NORMAN Suspect List Exchange · 2026-10-29 · DOI:10.1021/acs.est.5b03332.

Licence.

Use classification

  • Cosmetics -> Buffering

PubChem : NORMAN Suspect List Exchange · 2026-10-29 · S13 | EUCOSMETICS | Combined Inventory of Ingredients Employed in Cosmetic Products (2000) and Revised Inventory (2006) | DOI:10.5281/zenodo.2624118.

Licence.

No natural occurrence recorded in Wikidata (LOTUS database); this does not prove that the ingredient is synthetic.

Basis: one CosIngThe European Commission's database of cosmetic ingredients. CAS, with no natural occurrence recorded in this database.

Wikidata: names of substances in six languages and taxa in which they occur (largely from the LOTUS database), retrieved 23 October 2026.

Manufacturing

  • Industrially, N-alkylated ethanolamines are produced almost exclusively by batchwise or continuous reaction of primary, secondary, or tertiary amines with ethylene oxide. For safety reasons, ethylene oxide must be added to the amine, never vice versa. Depending on the product involved, reaction temperature varies from 50 to 170 °C and pressure from 0.2 to 4 MPa. Water accelerates the reaction. /N-alkylated ethanolamines/

  • Preparation from equimolar amounts of ethylene oxide and dimethylamine.

PubChem : Hazardous Substances Data Bank (HSDB) · 2026-10-29 · Frauenkron M et al; Ethanolamines and Propanolamines. Ullmann's Encyclopedia of Industrial Chemistry 7th ed. (1999-2014). NY, NY: John Wiley & Sons. Online Posting Date: September 15, 2001; O'Neil, M.J. (ed.). The Merck Index - An Encyclopedia of Chemicals, Drugs, and Biologicals. Cambridge, UK: Royal Society of Chemistry, 2013., p. 512.

Licence.

Appearance

  • Colorless liquid

  • Very faint yellow liquid

  • 2-dimethylaminoethanol appears as a clear colorless liquid with a fishlike odor. Flash point 105 °F. Less dense than water. Vapors heavier than air. Toxic oxides of nitrogen produced during combustion. Used to make other chemicals.

PubChem : Hazardous Substances Data Bank (HSDB) · 2026-10-29 · Lewis, R.J. Sr.; Hawley's Condensed Chemical Dictionary 15th Edition. John Wiley & Sons, Inc. New York, NY 2007., p. 442; O'Neil, M.J. (ed.). The Merck Index - An Encyclopedia of Chemicals, Drugs, and Biologicals. Cambridge, UK: Royal Society of Chemistry, 2013., p. 512.

Licence.

PubChem : CAMEO Chemicals · 2026-10-29 · https://cameochemicals.noaa.gov/chemical/3245.

Licence.

Odour described

  • Amine odor

  • Fishy odor

PubChem : Hazardous Substances Data Bank (HSDB) · 2026-10-29 · Lewis, R.J. Sr.; Hawley's Condensed Chemical Dictionary 15th Edition. John Wiley & Sons, Inc. New York, NY 2007., p. 442; O'Neil, M.J. (ed.). The Merck Index - An Encyclopedia of Chemicals, Drugs, and Biologicals. Cambridge, UK: Royal Society of Chemistry, 2013., p. 512.

Licence.

Stability

  • Stable under recommended storage conditions.

PubChem : Hazardous Substances Data Bank (HSDB) · 2026-10-29 · Sigma-Aldrich; Material Safety Data Sheet for 2-Dimethylaminoethanol, Product Number: 38990, Version 3.8 (Revision Date 11/19/2014). Available from, as of February 20, 2015: https://www.sigmaaldrich.com/safety-center.html.

Licence.

Other names: deanol (English), Dimetiletanolamina (Spanish), Dimetilaminoetanol (Portuguese).

Wikidata: names of substances in six languages and taxa in which they occur (largely from the LOTUS database), retrieved 23 October 2026.

Same substance in cosmetics: DIMETHYL MEA.

In plain words

À quoi il sert, selon les fabricants

Objectifs les plus souvent annoncés pour les compléments qui en contiennent (Dimethylaminoéthanol) : sport (9 produits), concentration (8 produits), mémoire (6 produits), antioxydant (4 produits), système nerveux (4 produits).

Ce sont les objectifs déclarés par les fabricants à l'administration, pas des effets démontrés. Sur l'emballage, seules les allégations de santé autorisées par l'Union peuvent être écrites.

Compl'Alim, food supplement declarations (France), retrieved 23 October 2026.

What the registers say, country by country

Each line repeats what an official register says on the date it was consulted. Not being in a register means neither allowed nor banned.

Compl'Alim ingredient list (France): listed and flagged as a novel food.

Compl'Alim, reference list of ingredients, retrieved 21 October 2026.

United States, supplement labels (DSLD; supplements need no prior approval): 82 products.

Dietary Supplement Label Database (DSLD), US National Institutes of Health: current and off-market labels, retrieved 27 October 2026.

Source: NIH Office of Dietary Supplements, Dietary Supplement Label Database (CC0); US market labels.

Latvia, registered supplements: 1 product.

PVD, Latvian food supplement register, retrieved 28 October 2026.

PVD, registre des compléments alimentaires, CC0 1.0. Les quantités et la date de chaque instantané sont conservées telles que publiées.

CC0 1.0

Poland, notified supplements: 2 products.

GIS, products notified in Poland, retrieved 27 October 2026.

Główny Inspektorat Sanitarny (GIS), Rejestr produktów objętych powiadomieniem

CC BY 4.0

Products