Tetrasodium N,N-bis(carboxymethyl)-L-glutamate

CAS 51981-21-6

U.S. production volumes are classified as confidential business information.

Molecular structure of 51981-21-6 — 4 Na⁺

US productionCBI

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

Import value, 2024$503M

Top sourceChina 25%

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 292249 · basket

EPA reports by year

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

These shares come from HS customs code 292249, which covers 170 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).

CN 25%ChinaIN 17%IndiaSG 13%SingaporeIT 9%ItalyCH 7%Switzerland

Argentina
Poland
Portugal
Lithuania
Ukraine
Finland
Spain
Egypt
Sweden
Austria
Israel
Latvia
Belgium
Ireland
Mexico
Australia
Peru
Czech Republic
Colombia
Hong Kong

Domestic parents -- activity not disclosed (1)

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

Aurorium

EPA-registered importers (2)

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

Nedam

Target

Why It Matters

Sectors

Consumer ProductsCore Chemicals

Downstream UsesNot recorded

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 3 sectors as 3 functional roles.

•Chelating agent in Soap, Cleaning Compound, and Toilet Preparation Manufacturing (100%)Processing—incorporation into formulation, mixture, or reaction product
•Ion exchange agent in All Other Basic Organic Chemical Manufacturing (100%)Processing—incorporation into formulation, mixture, or reaction product
•CBI in CBICBI

Chemical Identity

CAS51981-21-6

PubChem CID44630158

DTXSIDDTXSID2052158

FormulaC9H9NNa4O8

Mol. Weight351.13 g/mol

SMILESC(CC(=O)[O-])C(C(=O)[O-])N(CC(=O)[O-])CC(=O)[O-].[Na+].[Na+].[Na+].[Na+]

Data Sources

EPA CompTox (DSSTox) · DTXSID2052158Retrieved 2026-04-06
PubChem · compound 44630158Retrieved 2026-04-06
EPA Chemical Data ReportingReporting year: 2023 · Retrieved 2026-10-04
EPA Chemical Data ReportingReporting year: 2023 · Retrieved 2026-10-04
US Census international tradeReporting year: 2024 · Retrieved 2026-10-04

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Brief citations

Tetrasodium N,N-bis(carboxymethyl)-L-glutamate (CAS 51981-21-6) https://chemicalindependence.com/chemical/51981-21-6/ EPA CompTox (DSSTox): DTXSID2052158. Retrieved 2026-04-06. https://comptox.epa.gov/dashboard/chemical/details/DTXSID2052158 PubChem: 44630158. Retrieved 2026-04-06. https://pubchem.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/compound/44630158 EPA Chemical Data Reporting: 51981-21-6. Reporting year: 2023. https://www.epa.gov/chemical-data-reporting EPA Chemical Data Reporting: CAS 51981-21-6. Reporting year: 2023. https://www.epa.gov/chemical-data-reporting US Census international trade: HS 292249 for CAS 51981-21-6. Reporting year: 2024. https://usatrade.census.gov/