Environmental fate
Abiotic degradation
EDTA is in such widespread use that questions have been raised whether it is a persistent organic pollutant. While EDTA serves many positive functions in different industrial, pharmaceutical and other avenues, the longevity of EDTA can pose serious issues in the environment. The degradation of EDTA is slow. It mainly occurs abiotically in the presence of sunlight.The most important process for the elimination of EDTA from surface waters is direct photolysis at wavelengths below 400 nm. Depending on the light conditions, the photolysis half-lives of iron(III) EDTA in surface waters can range as low as 11.3 minutes up to more than 100 hours. Degradation of FeEDTA, but not EDTA itself, produces iron complexes of the triacetate (ED3A), diacetate (EDDA), and monoacetate (EDMA) – 92% of EDDA and EDMA biodegrades in 20 hours while ED3A displays significantly higher resistance. Many environmentally-abundant EDTA species (such as Mg2+ and Ca2+) are more persistent. Biodegradation
In many industrial wastewater treatment plants, EDTA elimination can be achieved at about 80% using microorganisms. Resulting byproducts are ED3A and iminodiacetic acid (IDA) – suggesting that both the backbone and acetyl groups were attacked. Some microorganisms have even been discovered to form nitrates out of EDTA, but they function optimally at moderately alkaline conditions of pH 9.0–9.5.Several bacterial strains isolated from sewage treatment plants efficiently degrade EDTA. Specific strains include Agrobacterium radiobacter ATCC 55002 and the sub-branches of Pseudomonadota like BNC1, BNC2, and strain DSM 9103. The three strains share similar properties of aerobic respiration and are classified as gram-negative bacteria.
It is an anticoagulant for blood samples for CBC/FBCs, where the EDTA chelates the calcium present in the blood specimen, arresting the coagulation process and preserving blood cell morphology. Tubes containing EDTA are marked with lavender (purple) or pink tops. EDTA is also in tan top tubes for lead testing and can be used in royal blue top tubes for trace metal testing.EDTA is a slime dispersant, and has been found to be highly effective in reducing bacterial growth during implantation of intraocular lenses (IOLs). Alternative medicine
Some alternative practitioners believe EDTA acts as an antioxidant,  preventing free radicals from injuring blood vessel walls, therefore reducing atherosclerosis. These ideas are unsupported by scientific studies, and seem to contradict some currently accepted principles. The U.S. FDA has not approved it for the treatment of atherosclerosis. Cosmetics
In shampoos, cleaners, and other personal care products, EDTA salts are used as a sequestering agent to improve their stability in air. Laboratory applications
In the laboratory, EDTA is widely used for scavenging metal ions: In biochemistry and molecular biology, ion depletion is commonly used to deactivate metal-dependent enzymes, either as an assay for their reactivity or to suppress damage to DNA, proteins, and polysaccharides. EDTA also acts as a selective inhibitor against dNTP hydrolyzing enzymes (Taq polymerase, dUTPase, MutT), liver arginase and horseradish peroxidase independently of metal ion chelation. These findings urge the rethinking of the utilisation of EDTA as a biochemically inactive metal ion scavenger in enzymatic experiments.