DMP (Dimethyl Phthalate): Properties, Uses in Plastics and Regulatory Status

DMP (dimethyl phthalate, CAS 131-11-3) is the shortest ortho-phthalate ester, used as a plasticizer for cellulose esters and as the solvent and phlegmatiser that carries MEKP peroxide, not as a PVC plasticizer. One carbon on each ester arm gives the molecule the formula C10H10O4 and a molecular weight of 194.18 g/mol. That one-carbon alcohol chain is what separates dimethyl phthalate from every phthalate that softens PVC, which raises the question of what DMP is actually used for.

The regulatory answer is shorter than the chemical one. DMP is registered under REACH, is not a Substance of Very High Concern and is not restricted under REACH Annex XVII, it is not listed in Annex I of Regulation (EU) No 10/2011, and it has not been authorised for US food contact since the FDA final rule of 20 May 2022. DMP is one of 437 substance profiles in our directory of plastic additives, each with the same identity, dosage and regulatory fields.

This page holds the data-sheet view and the compliance view together: the identity that separates dimethyl phthalate from DMP-30 and from DEP, the physical constants and the conflicting values printed beside them, the two systems that use it, its three recorded applications, the chain-length reason it never became a PVC plasticizer, a matrix dated 23 September 2026 across REACH, EU 10/2011, CLP, FDA, CPSIA and Canada, the comparison with DEP, triacetin, triethyl citrate and ATBC, and the three trade names a buyer meets in place of a named producer.

Table T1. DMP identity card.

Footnote: identity and physical data from PubChem CID 8554; registration status from ECHA dossier 14997; regulatory entries from the EU, US and Canadian legal texts cited in each section. Status as of 23 September 2026.

Not to be confused with DMP-30, an epoxy accelerator (CAS 90-72-2), which is not a plasticizer.

What Is DMP (Dimethyl Phthalate)?#

DMP is the dimethyl ester of benzene-1,2-dicarboxylic acid (ortho-phthalic acid), which makes it an ortho-phthalate with the shortest possible alcohol chain: one carbon on each side. The name encodes both halves of the molecule. Ortho-phthalic acid supplies the aromatic ring with its two carboxyl groups on adjacent ring carbons, and methanol supplies the two methyl groups that cap them. Which substance does the abbreviation DMP actually name in a plastics context? It names dimethyl phthalate, CAS 131-11-3, EC 205-011-6, a water-white liquid ester of formula C10H10O4 and molecular weight 194.18 g/mol.

Function rather than chemistry makes that ester a plasticizer. ASTM D883 defines a plasticizer as a substance incorporated into a plastic or elastomer to increase its flexibility, workability or distensibility, and dimethyl phthalate performs that function in cellulose esters rather than in vinyl compounds. Its second recorded function sits outside the polymer altogether, as the solvent and phlegmatiser in which MEKP peroxide is supplied. DMP belongs to the plasticizer family; the hub on plasticizers for plastics compares every class of them, from ortho-phthalates and terephthalates to trimellitates, citrates, adipates and polymerics.

What is the common name for dimethyl phthalate?#

The common name is dimethyl phthalate, abbreviated DMP; the systematic form of the same name is dimethyl benzene-1,2-dicarboxylate. In the trade the substance appears under three historical brand designations, Palatinol M, Unimoll DM and Kodaflex DMP, which name commercial grades of one chemical rather than three different chemicals, and the suppliers section below records which brand line each designation belongs to.

Is DMP a low molecular weight phthalate?#

Yes: DMP is classified with the low molecular weight ortho-phthalates, and at one carbon per ester arm it is shorter than every substance in that group. European Plasticisers defines low molecular weight phthalates as the esters carrying 3 to 6 carbon atoms in the alcohol chain, naming DEHP, DBP, DIBP and BBP, and high molecular weight phthalates as those carrying 7 to 13, naming DINP, DIDP, DPHP, DIUP and DTDP. Dimethyl phthalate sits below that range at C1 and DEP sits below it at C2, so the two shortest esters are grouped with the low molecular weight phthalates while falling outside the carbon count that defines the group. The split between low and high molecular weight esters is the organising idea of the phthalate plasticizers page.

The practical consequence is larger than the naming one. Neither of the two short-chain esters is a general-purpose PVC plasticizer, and the commercial volume of the phthalate class sits in the C8 to C13 range, which is why a C1 ester such as DMP appears in specialty positions instead.

Footnote: carbon-chain bands from the European Plasticisers definition of low and high molecular weight phthalates.

Why is DMP not the same as DMP-30?#

DMP-30 is a different chemical: 2,4,6-tris(dimethylaminomethyl)phenol (CAS 90-72-2), an epoxy accelerator, not a plasticizer. Dimethyl phthalate carries CAS 131-11-3 and softens cellulose esters, while DMP-30 accelerates the cure of epoxy resins and belongs to the curing agents and accelerators that fall outside the scope of this reference. A datasheet headed DMP that describes an amine accelerator therefore describes the other substance, and the CAS number settles which one is in the drum.

Is DMP the same as DEP?#

No: DEP (diethyl phthalate, CAS 84-66-2) is the next homologue up, with ethyl instead of methyl groups, a molecular weight of 222.24 g/mol instead of 194.18 g/mol, and a different food-contact status in the United States. The two esters share the ortho arrangement and the same cellulose-ester application, and they differ by 28.06 g/mol and by one carbon on each ester arm, a small chemical distance that the alternatives section below reads as a regulatory distance.

How Does DMP Plasticize Cellulose Esters?#

DMP plasticizes cellulose esters by inserting its small, polar ester molecules between the cellulose chains, weakening the interactions that hold them together and lowering the glass transition temperature of the compound. Compatibility governs whether that insertion holds. A plasticizer stays in a polymer when the difference between the solubility parameters of polymer and plasticizer falls within about 1.5 (cal/cm3)^0.5, and an ester outside that window exudes or blooms instead of plasticizing. Why does a one-carbon ester suit cellulose acetate rather than PVC? Polarity answers it: a shorter, less branched alcohol chain raises the polarity of the ester, which improves compatibility and processability in a polar polymer such as cellulose acetate, and raises volatility while weakening permanence at the same time.

Our source library holds no mechanism entry of its own for dimethyl phthalate, so every statement in this section is a family-level plasticization fact applied to a C1 ester, with no DMP-specific glass transition shift and no measured solubility parameter. The 4 classic plasticization theories are listed below.

• Lubricity theory, which treats the plasticizer as a lubricant between polymer chains.
• Gel theory, which treats the polymer as a three-dimensional gel whose contact points the plasticizer breaks.
• Free-volume theory, which treats plasticization as an increase in the free volume available for chain motion.
• Mechanistic theory, also called solvation-desolvation, which treats plasticizer and polymer as being in dynamic equilibrium.

The four theories and the solubility-parameter window are explained on how plasticizers work, and all four describe the same trade in a short ester: compatibility bought with polarity, permanence paid for in volatility. Whether an ester carries a compound on its own or needs a second one beside it is the distinction drawn on primary vs secondary plasticizers, and no primary or secondary designation for DMP in cellulose esters is recorded in our source library.

What Are the Physical and Chemical Properties of DMP?#

DMP is a water-white, essentially odourless liquid with a melting point of 5.5 °C (41.9 °F), a boiling point of 283.7 °C (542.7 °F) at 760 mm Hg and a flash point of 146 °C (295 °F). The eight properties recorded for dimethyl phthalate in our source library are set out below.

Table T2. DMP physical and chemical properties.

Footnote: relative density is quoted with its reference temperature exactly as the source states it: 1.1905 at 68 °F, 1.196 at 15.6/15.6 °C, 1.1940 at 20/20 °C and 1.189 at 25/25 °C.

Two of those rows carry conflicting figures in circulation, and a buyer comparing datasheets meets them. Older compilations print a melting point of 32 °F (0 °C) from an NTP 1992 table, which is the freezing point of the commercial product rather than of pure DMP, and a flash point of 300 °F, and the Google AI Overview currently shows an impossible conversion of "356 °F to 42 °F", so check which source a datasheet is quoting before comparing values. Vapour pressure, viscosity, refractive index and the partition coefficient of dimethyl phthalate are not recorded in our source library, so this page prints none of them.

Which Polymers Use DMP, and at What Dosage?#

DMP is used in cellulose-ester plastics such as cellulose acetate, and outside the polymer itself it is the carrier in which MEKP peroxide is supplied, at 40 to 60 % peroxide in DMP. How much dimethyl phthalate goes into a cellulose acetate compound? Our source library records no dosage range in phr or wt% for DMP in cellulose esters, so this page states none, and Table T3 prints the gap rather than an estimate.

An order of magnitude is available from the substances that occupy the same slot. Triacetin is used at about 10 wt% in cellulose acetate, and the ECHA use mapping records triethyl citrate and ATBC at 10 to 35 wt%, figures that belong to those three esters and not to dimethyl phthalate. Compound recipes quote plasticizer in PHR (parts per hundred resin), which converts to weight percent as wt% = phr of the ingredient divided by the total phr of the formulation, multiplied by 100, so a level read from a cellulose-ester recipe in phr and a level read from a datasheet in wt% are only comparable once the full formulation total is known.

Table T3. Polymers and systems that use DMP.

DMP in cellulose acetate and other cellulose esters#

Cellulose acetate is the polymer class our source library records for DMP: a polar cellulose ester in which a short, polar phthalate ester is compatible. Cellulose esters, a group that also includes cellulose acetate butyrate (CAB), carry hydroxyl and ester groups on the sugar backbone that make the polymer far more polar than PVC, and the chain-length rule applies directly to that polarity: the shorter and less branched the alcohol chain of the plasticizer, the higher its polarity and the better its compatibility with a polar resin.

Dimethyl phthalate is not alone in that slot. Triacetin, triethyl citrate, ATBC and DEP are the cellulose-ester plasticizers recorded alongside it in our source library, and three of the four carry EU food-contact clearances that DMP does not. The full set of esters used in this polymer class is compared on plasticizers for cellulose acetate and CAB plastics. End products are deliberately absent from this section: our source library names the polymer class for DMP, not the article made from it.

Why is DMP not used as a PVC plasticizer?#

DMP is not a general-purpose PVC plasticizer because its one-carbon alcohol chains make it the most volatile and least permanent phthalate ester, while flexible PVC needs 5 to 65 wt% of a plasticizer that stays in the compound. Chain length sets that behaviour. As the alcohol carbon number of a phthalate rises, polarity falls, viscosity rises, volatility falls and low-temperature flexibility improves, so the long-chain esters hold a compound for its service life while the shortest ones leave it.

Flexible PVC makes the requirement concrete. A compound at Shore A 50 to 90 carries between 5 and 65 wt% plasticizer, a loading that has to remain in the article through processing at melt temperature and through years of service, and an ester at the volatile end of the scale cannot hold it. The general-purpose position in PVC therefore belongs to the C8 to C13 esters, DEHP, DINP, DIDP and DPHP, with DOTP and DINCH beside them as non-ortho alternatives; the esters that do the job instead are listed on plasticizers for PVC. No volatility figure, loss rate or service temperature for dimethyl phthalate is recorded in our source library, so this section argues from the chain-length trend alone.

What Is Dimethyl Phthalate Used For? 3 Uses, 2 of Them in Plastics#

Dimethyl phthalate is used for three things: plasticizing cellulose-ester plastics, carrying and desensitising MEKP peroxide, and, outside plastics, acting as an insect repellent. The three applications recorded in our source library are listed below.

• Cellulose acetate and related cellulose esters, where DMP acts as the plasticizer.
• MEKP peroxide formulations, where DMP acts as the solvent and phlegmatiser at 40 to 60 % peroxide content.
• Insect repellent, a non-plastics use that this reference records and treats below the contextual border.

The first two uses sit inside the scope of this site and are developed in the two sections that follow. The repellent use belongs to a different product category and gets one short supplementary section at the end of the page.

Cellulose-ester plastics and films#

In plastics, DMP goes into cellulose acetate and related cellulose esters, the same slot that triacetin, triethyl citrate and ATBC now occupy. Cellulose acetate is the polar thermoplastic at the centre of that group, and the property dimethyl phthalate brings to it is the polarity match set out in the mechanism section above.

Three of the four competing esters carry food-contact clearances in the EU and the US, and DMP carries neither, which is the reason a modern cellulose-ester formulation reaches for a citrate or a glycerol ester first. Our source library names the polymer class for DMP and stops there: the claims circulating on other pages that dimethyl phthalate is used in safety glass interlayers or as a scent fixative in lacquers are not recorded in it, so this page does not repeat them.

Carrier and phlegmatiser for MEKP peroxide#

MEKP (methyl ethyl ketone peroxide, CAS 1338-23-4) is never sold neat: it reaches the user as a 40 to 60 % solution, and DMP is one of the solvents that carries and desensitises it. A phlegmatiser is a diluent that lowers the sensitivity of an energetic substance so it can be handled and shipped. In this role dimethyl phthalate is not an additive in the finished plastic at all: it is the medium in which an initiator travels to the point of use.

MEKP itself is an organic peroxide and a room-temperature curing initiator for unsaturated polyester and vinyl ester resins, and curing initiators, promoters and hardeners sit outside the topical border of this reference, so MEKP has no page of its own here. Peroxide chemistry, half-lives and dilution practice are covered on organic peroxides for polymers. Cure recipes, promoter systems, gel times and handling instructions are out of scope on this page and belong to the resin supplier's documentation.

How Does DMP Perform as a Plasticizer?#

DMP trades permanence for compatibility: the shortest alcohol chains give the highest polarity and the easiest processing, and the highest volatility and the weakest resistance to migration and extraction. Do plasticizers leach out of plastic over time? They do, because monomeric plasticizers are dissolved in the polymer rather than chemically bound to it, so they migrate into contacting materials, volatilise from the surface and are extracted by fats and solvents. Why short esters leave the compound first is the subject of additive volatility, extraction and fogging.

Four indicators describe that behaviour, and each has a test method rather than a published figure for dimethyl phthalate. Volatility is measured by ASTM D1203 Methods A and B and by ISO 176, migration by ISO 177, and extraction by ASTM D1239. Plasticizer efficiency is expressed as a substitution factor against DEHP = 1.00, with published typical values running from DBP at 0.86 to DTDP at 1.26, a convention that carries no entry for DMP. The DEHP = 1.00 reference and the published typical factors are explained on plasticizer efficiency and substitution factors.

Table T4. DMP performance indicators and their test methods.

Footnote: the empty value column is the honest state of the record. A buyer comparing grades asks the supplier to run the named method on the delivered lot rather than quoting a figure from a secondary compilation.

How Does DMP Interact with Other Additives?#

DMP is a co-plasticizer rather than a stand-alone system in most compounds: formulators pair a short, polar ester with a longer, more permanent one to balance processing against retention. The three interactions that govern a short ester in a formulation are listed below.

• Compatibility with the resin, which holds when the solubility parameters of polymer and plasticizer differ by no more than about 1.5 (cal/cm3)^0.5.
• Blending with longer esters, where a short chain contributes solvating power and fast fusion while the longer chain contributes permanence.
• Solution behaviour in MEKP formulations, where dimethyl phthalate is the medium that carries the peroxide rather than a co-additive reacting with it.

No named synergist, antagonist or pigment interaction for DMP is recorded in our source library, so each of the three statements above is a family-level property of short ortho-phthalate esters applied to a C1 ester. One consequence is constant across the family: because a monomeric plasticizer is not chemically bound to the polymer, the loss routes set the ceiling on how much of a volatile ester a formulation can carry, and those routes are set out on plasticizer migration.

What Is the Regulatory Status of DMP?#

DMP is registered under REACH, is not a Substance of Very High Concern, is not restricted under REACH Annex XVII, is not on the Union list of Regulation (EU) No 10/2011, and has not been authorised for US food contact since the FDA final rule of 20 May 2022 (status 23 September 2026). Twelve instruments and lists are checked in the matrix below.

Table T5. DMP regulatory matrix, as of 23 September 2026.

Two cells in that table read "status being verified" rather than "not listed", because an absence we have not checked against the source list is not a finding. What a registration status means in practice, and what it does not guarantee about a supplier's current dossier, is explained on REACH and plastic additives. On the US side, the inventory listing and the risk-evaluation programme that would determine a TSCA answer for dimethyl phthalate are described on TSCA and plastic additives, and the cell stays open until the EPA entry for CAS 131-11-3 has been read directly.

Is DMP REACH registered, and is it an SVHC?#

Yes, DMP is registered under REACH (Regulation (EC) No 1907/2006), and no, it is not a Substance of Very High Concern: it is absent from the Candidate List, from Annex XIV and from Annex XVII as of 23 September 2026. The registration carries a nuance worth reading before an EU import. The dossier status recorded in our source library is "Active, No longer Valid", which means a registration record exists while part of it is no longer valid, so a buyer confirms the current state of dossier 14997 on the ECHA website rather than relying on a third-party summary, including this one.

The contrast with a restricted sibling shows what an SVHC listing does. DBP has been on the SVHC Candidate List since 28 October 2008, sits in Annex XIV entry 6 and in Annex XVII entry 51, and therefore needs authorisation for continued EU use; dimethyl phthalate has never been added to any of the three. No tonnage band for DMP is captured in our source library, so this page states none.

Is DMP allowed in food-contact plastics?#

No, in neither jurisdiction: DMP is not on the Union list in Annex I of Regulation (EU) No 10/2011, so it carries no FCM number and no specific migration limit, and its US food-contact authorisation was revoked by the FDA final rule of 20 May 2022 (87 FR 31080). Absence from the Union list is a precise statement rather than a prohibition in every context, so the EU position is written as absence from Annex I and the US position as a revoked authorisation, and neither wording describes a prohibition of the substance as such. What it means for a substance to be absent from the Union list is explained on EU 10/2011, which also sets out the generic 60 mg/kg specific migration limit that a listed substance without an individual limit falls under.

Its closest relative kept its clearance. DEP is one of the 8 ortho-phthalates that remain authorised as plasticizers in US food contact, alongside DINP, DIDP, DEHP, DCHP, BPBG, EPEG and DIOP, and it also holds a prior sanction under 21 CFR 181.27. The 2022 revocation and the 8 phthalates that survived it are tabulated on FDA food contact rules for plastic additives. For a formulator, the consequence is that a cellulose-ester article intended for food contact cannot be built on dimethyl phthalate in either market, while a citrate ester or a glycerol ester carries the clearance the application needs.

Is DMP restricted in toys and childcare articles?#

DMP is not restricted in toys under REACH Annex XVII, under US 16 CFR 1307 or under Canada's SOR/2016-188, because none of those rules lists it. Each of the three is a closed list of named substances, so the finding is derived from absence rather than from an assessment. REACH Annex XVII entry 51 names DEHP, DBP, BBP and DIBP for all articles, and entry 52 names DINP, DIDP and DNOP for mouthable toys and childcare articles.

The US rule names eight. 16 CFR 1307 prohibits DEHP, DBP and BBP permanently and adds DINP, DIBP, DPENP, DHEXP and DCHP from 25 April 2018, and the 8 restricted phthalates are listed on CPSIA phthalate limits. Canada's SOR/2016-188 lists six, DEHP, DBP, BBP, DINP, DIDP and DNOP, and dimethyl phthalate appears on neither list. Country by country, the rules are compared on phthalate restrictions worldwide, and an absence from a closed list is a compliance statement about that list rather than a safety statement about the substance.

Is DMP listed under California Proposition 65?#

The Proposition 65 status of DMP is being verified against the current OEHHA list and will be published with its date. For context, the phthalates that are listed carry these dates: DEHP for cancer on 1 January 1988 and for developmental and male reproductive toxicity on 24 October 2003, DBP and BBP on 2 December 2005, DIDP for developmental toxicity on 20 April 2007 and DINP for cancer on 20 December 2013, while DIBP and DCHP are not listed on the OEHHA list of 31 July 2026. Listing dates for every listed plasticizer are on California Proposition 65.

Is DMP Safe? Health, Safety and Environmental Profile#

No reliable harmonised hazard classification for DMP has been confirmed: the entry shown on PubChem appears to be misattributed, and most companies that notified the substance to ECHA report it as not classified. A harmonised classification under Annex VI of the CLP Regulation (EC) No 1272/2008 is a legally binding classification agreed at EU level, and a notification to the ECHA classification and labelling inventory is a company's own assessment, so the two carry different weight and the difference decides what a page like this one may state. The three parts of the current record are listed below.

• Classification status: no reliable harmonised entry confirmed for dimethyl phthalate; verification against the ECHA classification and labelling inventory for CAS 131-11-3 is in progress.
• Family-level evidence: ortho-phthalates are not chemically bound to the polymer, so they migrate, volatilise and are extracted by fats, and their metabolite half-lives in humans run under 24 hours, which means a spot urine measurement reflects recent exposure rather than long-term body burden.
• Open items: no DMP-specific toxicology, no dose descriptor and no environmental fate data are held in our source library, so none is stated here.

This page states regulatory status, not a safety verdict. It prints no LD50, no NOAEL and no tolerable daily intake, and it quotes no hazard statement while the classification is disputed; the verification is recorded as an open verification item and will be closed with its date. The consumer-facing evidence is summarised on phthalates: health effects and concerns the C4 to C8 esters that have been studied, not DMP specifically.

Volume explains why the studied esters are the long ones. About 90 to 95 % of phthalate production goes into PVC as plasticizer, around 5.5 million tonnes in 2015 according to the OECD study by Holland published in 2018, and the short-chain specialty esters sit far outside that mass. The difference between a harmonised Annex VI entry and a self-classification notification is explained on CLP classification of plastic additives.

What Are the Alternatives to DMP?#

The four alternatives our source library records for the DMP slot are DEP, triacetin, triethyl citrate and ATBC, three of them non-phthalate esters, and the difference that matters most is food-contact status. Three of the four are non-phthalate plasticizers, the group that regulators treat separately from ortho-phthalates, and all four carry a US prior sanction under 21 CFR 181.27 that dimethyl phthalate lost in 2022.

Table T6. DMP compared with its four recorded alternatives.

Footnote: group restriction 32 is a 60 mg/kg sum limit for the listed plasticisers under Regulation (EU) No 10/2011 (consolidated 14 Jul 2026).

Full property data for the PVC plasticizers, which is a different comparison from the cellulose-ester one above, sit on plasticizer comparison.

DMP vs DEP (diethyl phthalate)#

DEP is the alternative that occupies the same slot with a better US paper trail: it is the C2 homologue, it plasticizes the same cellulose esters, and it is one of the 8 ortho-phthalates the FDA still authorises as food-contact plasticizers, which DMP is not. Its identity is CAS 84-66-2, EC 201-550-6, formula C12H14O4 and molecular weight 222.24 g/mol, and our source library classifies it, like dimethyl phthalate, as a low molecular weight ortho-phthalate, at C2 rather than C1.

The two esters diverge in exactly one dimension that a formulator can act on. Neither is on the Union list of Regulation (EU) No 10/2011, so the EU position is identical, while in the United States DEP (diethyl phthalate) kept the food-contact clearance that DMP lost on 20 May 2022 and also holds a prior sanction under 21 CFR 181.27. Neither carries a harmonised CLP classification. A switch from DMP to DEP therefore changes the US compliance position without leaving the ortho-phthalate class.

DMP vs triacetin#

Triacetin is the non-phthalate default for cellulose acetate: a glycerol ester (CAS 102-76-1) used at about 10 wt%, authorised as food additive E1518 and covered in EU food contact by FCM 40 for glycerol esters with acetic acid. Its EC number is 203-051-9, its formula C9H14O6 and its molecular weight 218.20 g/mol, which places it 24.02 g/mol above dimethyl phthalate with no aromatic ring at all.

Three properties separate it from DMP in a specification. Triacetin leaves the ortho-phthalate class entirely, so a phthalate-free declaration survives it; it carries an EU food-contact clearance under FCM 40 with no specific migration limit and no place in group restriction 32; and it has a recorded use level, about 10 wt% in cellulose acetate, where DMP has none. Triacetin (glycerol triacetate) is also used as a plasticizer for PLA, which extends its reach beyond the cellulose esters.

DMP vs triethyl citrate (TEC)#

Triethyl citrate is the food-grade citrate route: CAS 77-93-0, used in cellulose acetate, PVAc and PLA at 10 to 35 wt%, listed as FCM 140 under group restriction 32 and cleared as food additive E1505. Its EC number is 201-070-7, its formula C12H20O7 and its molecular weight 276.28 g/mol, and it holds a prior sanction under 21 CFR 181.27 in the United States.

The 10 to 35 wt% band from the ECHA use mapping is the practical difference from dimethyl phthalate, because it gives a formulator a starting point that our DMP record cannot supply. Group restriction 32 caps the sum of the listed plasticisers migrating from an article at 60 mg/kg, so triethyl citrate (TEC) is compliant within a total rather than under an individual limit, which is a different calculation from the one an FCM substance with its own SML requires.

DMP vs ATBC#

ATBC is the alternative that carries the widest clearances: an acetylated citrate ester (CAS 77-90-7) listed as FCM 138 in the EU and cleared under three FDA sections, which is why it appears in toys, cling film and medical articles. Its EC number is 201-067-0, its formula C20H34O8 and its molecular weight 402.5 g/mol, more than twice the mass of dimethyl phthalate, and it is not a Substance of Very High Concern.

Breadth of clearance is the whole argument. ATBC (acetyl tributyl citrate) holds 21 CFR 181.27 as a prior sanction, 175.105 for adhesives and 178.3910 for surface lubricants, sits under EU group restriction 32 with no individual specific migration limit, and carries FEMA 3080 as a flavour ingredient. The ECHA use mapping records it at 10 to 35 wt% in PVC, and it is used in PLA films as well, so it covers applications that a C1 ester never reached.

Who Supplies DMP? Grades and Trade Names#

DMP is sold under the trade names Palatinol M, Unimoll DM and Kodaflex DMP; our source library records no current producer for it, so this page lists the brand lines rather than naming companies we have not verified. Palatinol is a BASF brand line and UNIMOLL is a Lanxess brand line, while the owner of Kodaflex is not recorded in our supplier reference at all. The lab shops and distributors that rank for this substance sell packaged quantities and are not producer records.

Table T7. DMP trade names and brand lines.

Footnote: brand-line ownership comes from our supplier reference; whether each grade is still marketed has not been verified.

For scale, the last US production band recorded for dimethyl phthalate is 10 to under 50 million pounds a year, from the 2006 EPA Inventory Update Rule, so any current volume figure needs a newer source. Producers we have verified are listed in the directory of plasticizer manufacturers, which carries the company records this table leaves open.

No DMP price level and no price series exist in our data, so this page publishes none, and the drivers that move ester plasticizer prices are tracked on plasticizer prices. Buyers should request the supplier's TDS and SDS and a statement of grade and purity before qualifying a source.

How Do Short-Chain Phthalates Fit into the Plasticizer Family?#

DMP sits at the short end of the ortho-phthalate series, the specialty corner of a class whose volume is almost entirely in the long-chain esters that soften PVC. European Plasticisers puts low molecular weight phthalates at under 11 % of Western European phthalate production, and records Western European output at about 1 million tonnes of phthalates a year, of which more than 900,000 tonnes a year go into PVC. Global plasticizer consumption runs at 8.4 million tonnes a year according to the European Plasticisers factsheet of May 2020, so the short esters are a rounding item in a market measured in millions of tonnes. DMP sits at the short end of the ortho-phthalates.

DMP, DEP, DBP: what changes as the alcohol chain grows#

Three carbons separate DMP, DEP and DBP, and they separate three regulatory worlds: DMP and DEP carry no harmonised reproductive-toxicity classification, while DBP has been on the REACH Candidate List since 28 October 2008 and is classified H360Df. The three esters compare as follows.

• DMP, CAS 131-11-3, C1 alcohol, 194.18 g/mol: cellulose-ester plasticizer and MEKP carrier, not on the Union list, US authorisation revoked 20 May 2022.
• DEP, CAS 84-66-2, C2 alcohol, 222.24 g/mol: plasticizer and solvent for cellulose acetate, one of the 8 ortho-phthalates the FDA still authorises.
• DBP, CAS 84-74-2, C4 linear alcohol, 278.34 g/mol: fast-fusing plasticizer and solvent for PVAc and cellulosics, adhesives and inks, Annex XIV entry 6, Annex XVII entry 51, FCM 157 with an SML of 0.12 mg/kg since Regulation (EU) 2023/1442, harmonised H360Df and H400.

Two carbons of chain length therefore carry more regulatory consequence than any property in the datasheet, and DBP (dibutyl phthalate) shows where the series crosses into restriction.

DMP outside plastics: insect repellent, solvent and fragrance uses#

Outside plastics, DMP is known as an insect repellent, a use this reference records but does not cover: plasticadditives.net is limited to additives used in plastics. Our source library lists the repellent application in the DMP applications field and carries no efficacy data, no application rate and no cosmetic or biocide regulatory status for it. Readers looking for that side of the substance need a source in that field, because nothing on this page addresses it.

Is DMP banned?#

No: DMP is not banned under the EU, US or Canadian rules covered on this page, although its US food-contact authorisation was revoked on 20 May 2022 (status 23 September 2026). It carries no REACH Annex XVII entry, no POPs listing and no place among the 8 phthalates of 16 CFR 1307 or the 6 of SOR/2016-188, and a revoked food-contact authorisation restricts one application rather than the substance as a whole.

What is the biggest source of phthalates?#

By volume, flexible PVC is the biggest source: about 90 to 95 % of phthalate production goes into PVC as plasticizer, around 5.5 million tonnes in 2015 according to the OECD study by Holland published in 2018. Because monomeric plasticizers are dissolved in the polymer rather than bonded to it, they leave PVC articles by migration, volatilisation and extraction, and the resulting human metabolites have half-lives under 24 hours, which is why a spot urine sample reports recent exposure only.

Does DMP need an SDS?#

Yes: suppliers provide a safety data sheet for DMP as for any traded chemical, and it is the document to check first while the harmonised classification remains unverified. What each section of that document must contain, under the OSHA hazard communication standard and under CLP, is set out on safety data sheets and GHS labels for plastic additives; this page neither reproduces SDS content nor hosts a third-party sheet.