Body & Beauty / Compounds / Glycerol

Glycerol on your skin: a safety profile

Low risk

(People-specific data is limited; this page draws from human adult context.) Glycerol (glycerin; propane-1,2,3-triol; C₃H₈O₃) is a trihydroxy alcohol that is a fundamental building block of triglyceride fats (the glycerol backbone to which three fatty acid chains are esterified) and is produced as a byproduct of biodiesel production, soap manufacturing, and fat hydrolysis — global glycerol production exceeds 4 million tons/year. FDA GRAS status: glycerol is GRAS as a food ingredient (humectant, solvent, sweetener at ~60% the sweetness of sucrose) and is approved for numerous pharmaceutical excipient applications. Biological role: glycerol is a central metabolite — dietary fat is digested to glycerol + fatty acids (absorbed separately), glycerol is phosphorylated to glycerol-3-phosphate → enters glycolysis or gluconeogenesis; glycerol is also an osmolyte used medicinally for intracranial pressure reduction and as a hydration aid. Pharmaceutical applications: glycerol is used as a vehicle/excipient in oral liquid medicines (cough syrups, oral suspensions), intravenous formulations, suppositories (glycerin suppositories for constipation), and topical preparations. Cosmetic/personal care applications: glycerol is one of the most common moisturizing agents in skincare — a humectant that attracts water from the dermis and environment to the stratum corneum; present in lotions, creams, soaps, and hair products. Oral toxicity: very low — oral LD50 rat ~26,000 mg/kg; glycerol is safe for consumption in food and pharmaceutical contexts at typical use levels. No carcinogen classification. High-dose IV glycerol: IV glycerol (10%) was used historically for cerebral edema — associated with hemolysis at high infusion rates (replaced by mannitol in most settings).

What is glycerol?

The IUPAC name is propane-1,2,3-triol.

Also known as: propane-1,2,3-triol, glycerin, Glycerine, 1,2,3-Propanetriol.

IUPAC name
propane-1,2,3-triol
CAS number
56-81-5
Molecular formula
C3H8O3
Molecular weight
92.09 g/mol
SMILES
C(C(CO)O)O
PubChem CID
753

Risk for people

Low risk

Glycerol (glycerin; propane-1,2,3-triol; C₃H₈O₃) is a trihydroxy alcohol that is a fundamental building block of triglyceride fats (the glycerol backbone to which three fatty acid chains are esterified) and is produced as a byproduct of biodiesel production, soap manufacturing, and fat hydrolysis — global glycerol production exceeds 4 million tons/year. FDA GRAS status: glycerol is GRAS as a food ingredient (humectant, solvent, sweetener at ~60% the sweetness of sucrose) and is approved for numerous pharmaceutical excipient applications. Biological role: glycerol is a central metabolite — dietary fat is digested to glycerol + fatty acids (absorbed separately), glycerol is phosphorylated to glycerol-3-phosphate → enters glycolysis or gluconeogenesis; glycerol is also an osmolyte used medicinally for intracranial pressure reduction and as a hydration aid. Pharmaceutical applications: glycerol is used as a vehicle/excipient in oral liquid medicines (cough syrups, oral suspensions), intravenous formulations, suppositories (glycerin suppositories for constipation), and topical preparations. Cosmetic/personal care applications: glycerol is one of the most common moisturizing agents in skincare — a humectant that attracts water from the dermis and environment to the stratum corneum; present in lotions, creams, soaps, and hair products. Oral toxicity: very low — oral LD50 rat ~26,000 mg/kg; glycerol is safe for consumption in food and pharmaceutical contexts at typical use levels. No carcinogen classification. High-dose IV glycerol: IV glycerol (10%) was used historically for cerebral edema — associated with hemolysis at high infusion rates (replaced by mannitol in most settings).

Regulatory consensus

2 regulatory and scientific bodies have classified Glycerol. The classifications differ — that's the data.

AgencyYearClassificationNotes
EPA CTX / Genetox—Genotoxicity: positive (Ames: positive, 10 positive / 7 negative reports)
EPA CTX / Genetox—Genotoxicity: positive (Ames: positive, 10 positive / 7 negative reports)

Regulators apply different standards of evidence — animal-data weighting, exposure-pattern assumptions, epidemiological power thresholds — which is why two scientific bodies can review the same data and reach different conclusions. The disagreement is the data.

Where you encounter glycerol

  • Industrial Facilities — Manufacturing plants, Chemical storage areas, Waste treatment sites
  • Occupational Environments — Factories, Warehouses, Transportation vehicles
  • Consumer Products — dietary supplements, fortified foods, energy drinks
  • Fragrance — perfume, cologne, scented personal care products, household fragrance products, candles
    Identified in Fragrance Ingredient Safety Priority Research database (2,325 ingredients)

Safer alternatives

Lower-risk approaches that achieve a similar outcome to Glycerol:

  • Physical/mechanical pest control (IPM)
    Trade-offs: More labor-intensive. May not be sufficient for severe infestations.
    Relative cost: 1.2-2×

Frequently asked questions

What products contain glycerol?

Glycerol appears in: Manufacturing plants (Industrial facilities); Chemical storage areas (Industrial facilities); Factories (Occupational environments); Warehouses (Occupational environments); dietary supplements (Consumer products).

See Glycerol in the body app

Look up products containing glycerol, compare to alternatives, and explore the full data record.

Open in body View raw API data

Sources (2)
  1. FDA GRAS: Glycerol — GRAS humectant/solvent/sweetener; pharmaceutical excipient; pediatric medications; glycerin suppositories; oral LD50 26,000 mg/kg; WADA exemption 2018; vaping e-liquid base (2021) (2021) — regulatory
  2. NIOSH: Glycerol — triglyceride backbone metabolite; biodiesel byproduct; skincare humectant; IV osmotherapy history; glycerol-3-phosphate gluconeogenesis; acrolein thermal decomposition at vaping temperatures (2019) (2019) — regulatory

Reference data, not professional advice. Aggregates publicly available regulatory and scientific data; not a substitute for veterinary, medical, legal, or regulatory advice. Why we built ALETHEIA →