What does Dl-carnitine do?

Used in consumer products as a surfactant, a thickener and a conditioner.

Is Dl-carnitine safe?

We haven't assessed a concern score for this ingredient yet.

beauty
cleaning
industrial

Dl-carnitine

CAS 461-06-3

Also registered as 3 other CAS numbers

406-76-8 · 15183-21-8 · 122195-30-6

Concern score

Not assessed — no hazard data yet.

Dl-carnitine in plain language

What it is: Also known as Carnitine · Carnitine dl-form · Carnitine, (+/-)- · 3-Hydroxy-4-(trimethylazaniumyl)butanoate · Carnitine, dl- · (3-carboxy-2-hydroxypropyl)-trimethylazanium
Show all 17 names
(±)-(3-Carboxy-2-hydroxypropyl)trimethylammonium hydroxide · 3-Hydroxy-4-trimethylammoniobutanoate · 3-hydroxy-4-(trimethylammonio)butanoate · Carnitina · Carnitinum · D,L-carnitine · L(-)-Carnitine · carnitine - l · β-Hydroxy-γ-trimethylaminobutyric acid · γ-Amino-β-hydroxybutyric acid trimethylbetaine · γ-Trimethyl-β-hydroxybutyrobetaine
What it does: Used in consumer products as a surfactant, a thickener and a conditioner.
Surfactant
Thickener
Conditioner
Foaming agent
Antistatic
Cleaning agent
Is it a concern?: We haven't assessed a concern score for this ingredient yet.

Regulation

No restrictions found. Dl-carnitine appears in these published regulatory listings.

Recorded in these product areas

Found in consumer products
Beauty
Cleaning
Industrial

USEPAcommercial use observedEPA CPDat observed this chemical in 22 composition records across product categories including Personal care, Raw materials. EPA CPDat classifies this chemical for functional uses including Surfactant (surface active agent), Softener and conditioner, Anti-static agent.
- EPA CPDat observed this chemical in 22 composition records across product categories including Personal care, Raw materials. EPA CPDat classifies this chemical for functional uses including Surfactant (surface active agent), Softener and conditioner, Anti-static agent.Source →
USFDAlisted in openFDA substanceopenFDA substance registry classifies this ingredient as chemical.
- openFDA substance registry classifies this ingredient as chemical.Source →

Expert safety opinions

No expert opinion on file for Dl-carnitine. These are the independent scientific bodies that assess ingredients like this one; we show an opinion only when a record we hold cites it.

SCCS
EU Scientific Committee on Consumer Safety
No SCCS opinion on file.
CIR
Cosmetic Ingredient Review (US expert panel)
No CIR safety assessment on file.

Evidence & sources

No graded research studies for Dl-carnitine yet. This record is compiled from the published data sources below — registries and regulatory listings, not study findings.

5 data sources

Where this comes from

EPA Chemical and Products Database
exposure · updated September 2013
Open →
EPA DSSTox Identifiers
chemistry · updated 2025-12-29
Open →
FDA GSRS UNII
registry · updated 2026-02-26
Open →
openFDA Substance
registry · updated 2026-05-24
Open →
PubChem Live Enrichment
chemistry · updated 2026-05-17
Open →

Suitability

Context-specific fit derived from published classifications and the current ingredient evidence profile.

Fragrance avoidance

Nothing to weigh for this context yet.

No signal in this context

We have no published hazard signal for this ingredient, so we cannot say how it behaves in this context — that is missing evidence, not a clean result.

Where it has been recorded

How often EPA CPDat has listed Dl-carnitine in a product composition. These are source records, not Greenveil catalog products.

Source records

Named organisations

Personal careRaw materials

Typical roles

SurfactantThickenerConditionerFoaming agentAntistaticCleaning agent

See products using Dl-carnitine →

Catalog

Found in these products

Their ingredient lists include Dl-carnitine; each product's own rating depends on its whole formula, so it is shown on the product page, not here.

See all 1000+ →Find products without it →

Co-occurrence

Often appears with

Ingredients that frequently appear alongside Dl-carnitine in the catalog.