Lactic acid

Drug ingredient

CAS 50-21-5

This drug ingredient has classified U.S. production volumes. EPA withholds the number as confidential business information.

US productionCBI

Confidential Business Information. The EPA withholds this volume because publishing it could reveal the reporting company's trade secrets.

Import value, 2024$78M

Top sourceNetherlands 33%

At least one company claimed its 2023 production or import volume for this chemical as confidential, so EPA withholds it.

Why supply is unknown

Production is reported production, not a complete census of factories. US production volume is confidential. Production reporting year: 2023. Import value and source-country shares describe a shared customs category, not a separate chemical measurement.

Where It Comes From

Customs basis: HS 291811 · basket

EPA reports by year

2023: US production Confidential · Imports Confidential
2019: US production Confidential · Imports Confidential

These shares come from HS customs code 291811, which covers 35 tracked chemicals in total. They estimate the category's origin mix, not this chemical specifically.

Source Countries

Country of origin for US imports, from Census customs data (2024).

NL 33%NetherlandsBE 14%BelgiumES 13%SpainCN 12%ChinaIT 9%Italy

Mexico
United Kingdom
Switzerland
Austria
South Korea
Sweden
Taiwan
Ukraine

EPA-registered manufacturers (4)

Companies that report making or importing this chemical to the EPA. Registration is US-centric and does not indicate import origin.

Cargill, Incorporated

Hawkins

Macdermid

Natureworks

Domestic parents -- activity not disclosed (3)

EPA records name a US company for this chemical but do not disclose whether the company made it here or imported it.

Archer Daniels Midland

International Flavors And Fragrances

Thatcher

EPA-registered importers (4)

Companies that report making or importing this chemical to the EPA. Registration is US-centric and does not indicate import origin.

Kcc · KR South Korea

Atotech Manufacturing

Mom Holding

Wego Chemical Group

14 FDA-registered drug labelers

Alva-Amco Pharmacal Companies, Inc.

ANUBIS COSMETICS SL

Avion Pharmaceuticals, LLC

Beijing JUNGE Technology Co., Ltd.

Deseret Biologicals, Inc.

Energique, Inc.

Guangzhou ChuanMa International Trading Co.,Ltd.

Guangzhou Renuma Medical Systems Co., Ltd

Guna spa

Pella Pharmaceuticals Co. Ltd

Rida LLC

Shenzhen Shierjie Biological Engineering Co., LTD

Vantive US Healthcare LLC

Vitality Works, Inc,

Why It Matters

Sectors

HealthPlastics & RubberTextilesPaints & CoatingsCore Chemicals

Downstream Uses

Appears in 22 drug and cosmetic product listings (FDA).

•Feelshion Glycolic Acid Exfoliating Face Pads
•Category V
•Anubis Barcelona New Even
•Prismasol BGK2/0
•Tossoya Rainforest SecretGuard Antibacterial Quick-Cleanse Wipes
•Circulation
•Prenate Restore
•Prismasol B22GK4/0

Show all 22

•Pancreapar
•Prismasol BGK4/2.5
•SKIN TAG Remover
•Glucose Control T015
•Omeosport
•Prismasol BGK2/3.5
•Prismasol BGK0/2.5
•Prismasol BGK4/0/1.2
•Cornex
•AnubisMed
•WART SKIN TAG Remover
•Prismasol BK0/0/1.2
•Nauzene Homeopathic
•Medicated Foaming Feminine

FDA Shortage Status

Whether any manufacturer currently reports this drug as in shortage on the FDA Drug Shortages database. "Active Shortage" means at least one presentation has status "current."

No FDA shortage records

Industrial Uses

Used in 5 sectors as 7 functional roles.

•Chemical reaction regulator in Plastics Material and Resin Manufacturing (100%)Processing as a reactant
•Plating agent in Paint and Coating Manufacturing (100%)Processing—incorporation into formulation, mixture, or reaction product
•Intermediate in Plastics Material and Resin Manufacturing (100%)Processing—incorporation into formulation, mixture, or reaction product
•Etching agent in All Other Chemical Product and Preparation ManufacturingProcessing—incorporation into formulation, mixture, or reaction product
•Chelating agent in All Other Chemical Product and Preparation ManufacturingProcessing—incorporation into formulation, mixture, or reaction product
•Plating agent in All Other Chemical Product and Preparation ManufacturingProcessing—incorporation into formulation, mixture, or reaction product
•Tanning agents not otherwise specified in Textiles, apparel, and leather manufacturingProcessing—incorporation into formulation, mixture, or reaction product
•Intermediate in All Other Chemical Product and Preparation ManufacturingProcessing—incorporation into formulation, mixture, or reaction product
•pH regulating agent in All Other Basic Organic Chemical Manufacturing (100%)Processing—incorporation into formulation, mixture, or reaction product

Vendor Pricing

$0.01/gA2B Chem LLC

CountryUnited States

Pack$841.00 / 100 kg

Purity88%

Vendors22 available

Prices reflect listed pack sizes. Small research packs run far above bulk rates.

21 more vendors

Vendor	Country	$/g	Pack	Purity
AA BLOCKS	United States	$0.01	100 kg	88%
Angene Chemical	China → Hong Kong	$0.02	1 kg	80%
Sigma-Aldrich (Rush Stock)	Germany	$0.02	25 kg	85%
Sigma-Aldrich	Germany	$0.02	25 kg	85%
Fluorochem UK	United Kingdom	$0.04	500 g	85%
AA BLOCKS (2 weeks)	United States	$0.08	500 g	85%
AK Scientific, Inc.	United States	$0.14	500 g	85%
Combi-Blocks, Inc.	United States	$0.25	1 kg	87%
AstaTech, Inc	United States	$0.83	100 g	85%
Angene International Limited	United States	$1.99	100 g	85%
MedChemExpress MCE	Sweden	$26.01	10 g	98%
BLD Pharmatech Ltd.	China	$41.64	25 g	60%
BLD Pharmatech Co., Limited	United States	$45.80	25 g	60%
Ambeed, Inc.	United States	$45.80	25 g	60%
BLD Pharmatech GmbH	Germany	$46.40	10 g	60%
Fluorochem EU	Germany	$68.49	5 g	—
TargetMol Chemicals	China → United States	$81.00	1 g	99.45%
Apexbio Technology LLC	United States	$200.00	500 mg	98%
Otava, Ltd.	Ukraine	$2280.00	50 mg	95%
Otava, Ltd. (2 weeks)	Ukraine	$2724.00	50 mg	95%
Angene	China → Hong Kong	$4266.67	30 mg	85%

Chemical Identity

CAS50-21-5

PubChem CID612

DTXSIDDTXSID7023192

FormulaC3H6O3

Mol. Weight90.08 g/mol

SMILESCC(C(=O)O)O

Data Sources

EPA CompTox (DSSTox) · DTXSID7023192Retrieved 2026-04-06
PubChem · compound 612Retrieved 2026-04-06
EPA Chemical Data ReportingReporting year: 2023 · Retrieved 2026-10-04
FDA National Drug Code directoryRetrieved 2026-04-07
US Census international tradeReporting year: 2024 · Retrieved 2026-10-04

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Brief citations

Lactic acid (CAS 50-21-5) https://chemicalindependence.com/chemical/50-21-5/ EPA CompTox (DSSTox): DTXSID7023192. Retrieved 2026-04-06. https://comptox.epa.gov/dashboard/chemical/details/DTXSID7023192 PubChem: 612. Retrieved 2026-04-06. https://pubchem.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/compound/612 EPA Chemical Data Reporting: 50-21-5. Reporting year: 2023. https://www.epa.gov/chemical-data-reporting FDA National Drug Code directory: CAS 50-21-5. Retrieved 2026-04-07. https://open.fda.gov/data/ndc/ US Census international trade: HS 291811 for CAS 50-21-5. Reporting year: 2024. https://usatrade.census.gov/