WHO/SDE/WSH/03.

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Edetic acid (EDTA) in Drinking-water

Background document for development of

WHO Guidelines for Drinking-water Quality

______________________
Originally published in Guidelines for drinking-water quality, 2nd ed. Addendum to Vol. 2. Health
criteria and other supporting information. World Health Organization, Geneva, 1998.
© World Health Organization 2003

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 Preface

One of the primary goals of WHO and its member states is that “all people, whatever
their stage of development and their social and economic conditions, have the right to
have access to an adequate supply of safe drinking water.” A major WHO function to
achieve such goals is the responsibility “to propose regulations, and to make
recommendations with respect to international health matters ....”

The first WHO document dealing specifically with public drinking-water quality was
published in 1958 as International Standards for Drinking-Water. It was subsequently
revised in 1963 and in 1971 under the same title. In 1984–1985, the first edition of the
WHO Guidelines for drinking-water quality (GDWQ) was published in three
volumes: Volume 1, Recommendations; Volume 2, Health criteria and other
supporting information; and Volume 3, Surveillance and control of community
supplies. Second editions of these volumes were published in 1993, 1996 and 1997,
respectively. Addenda to Volumes 1 and 2 of the second edition were published in
1998, addressing selected chemicals. An addendum on microbiological aspects
reviewing selected microorganisms was published in 2002.

The GDWQ are subject to a rolling revision process. Through this process, microbial,
chemical and radiological aspects of drinking-water are subject to periodic review,
and documentation related to aspects of protection and control of public drinking-
water quality is accordingly prepared/updated.

Since the first edition of the GDWQ, WHO has published information on health
criteria and other supporting information to the GDWQ, describing the approaches
used in deriving guideline values and presenting critical reviews and evaluations of
the effects on human health of the substances or contaminants examined in drinking-
water.

For each chemical contaminant or substance considered, a lead institution prepared a

health criteria document evaluating the risks for human health from exposure to the
particular chemical in drinking-water. Institutions from Canada, Denmark, Finland,
France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Sweden, United
Kingdom and United States of America prepared the requested health criteria
documents.

Under the responsibility of the coordinators for a group of chemicals considered in the
guidelines, the draft health criteria documents were submitted to a number of
scientific institutions and selected experts for peer review. Comments were taken into
consideration by the coordinators and authors before the documents were submitted
for final evaluation by the experts meetings. A “final task force” meeting reviewed the
health risk assessments and public and peer review comments and, where appropriate,
decided upon guideline values. During preparation of the third edition of the GDWQ,
it was decided to include a public review via the world wide web in the process of
development of the health criteria documents.

During the preparation of health criteria documents and at experts meetings, careful
consideration was given to information available in previous risk assessments carried
out by the International Programme on Chemical Safety, in its Environmental Health
Criteria monographs and Concise International Chemical Assessment Documents, the
International Agency for Research on Cancer, the joint FAO/WHO Meetings on
Pesticide Residues, and the joint FAO/WHO Expert Committee on Food Additives
(which evaluates contaminants such as lead, cadmium, nitrate and nitrite in addition to
food additives).

Further up-to-date information on the GDWQ and the process of their development is
available on the WHO internet site and in the current edition of the GDWQ.

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 Acknowledgements

The first draft of Edetic Acid (EDTA) in Drinking-water, background document for
the development of WHO Guidelines for Drinking-water Quality, was prepared by
Mr J. Fawell, United Kingdom, to whom special thanks are due.

The work of the following coordinators was crucial in the development of this
document and others in the Addendum:

P. Chambon, Health Environment Hygiene Laboratory of Lyon, Lyon,

France (inorganic constituents)
U. Lund, Water Quality Institute, Horsholm, Denmark (organic
constituents)
H. Galal-Gorchev, Urban Environmental Health, World Health
Organization, Geneva, Switzerland (pesticides)
E. Ohanian, Environmental Protection Agency, Washington, DC, USA
(disinfectants and disinfection by-products)

The coordinators for the overall administrative and technical aspects of this document
were, respectively, J. Kenny and H. Galal-Gorchev, Urban Environmental Health,
WHO, Geneva, Switzerland.

Ms Marla Sheffer of Ottawa, Canada, was responsible for the scientific editing of the
document.

The efforts of all who helped in the preparation and finalization of this document,
including those who drafted and peer reviewed drafts, are gratefully acknowledged.

The preparation of this document was made possible by the financial support afforded
to WHO by Canada, the European Commission, Japan and the USA.
GENERAL DESCRIPTION

Identity

CAS no.: 60-00-4

Molecular formula: C10H16N2O8
Edetic acid (ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid) and its salts are commonly referred to as EDTA.
Other names include N,N'-1,2-ethanediylbis[N-(carboxymethyl)glycine], Versene acid, and
(ethylenedinitrilo)tetraacetic acid.

Physicochemical properties

Property Value
Physical appearance Colourless crystals
Solubility in water 0.5 g/litre at 25°C

Organoleptic properties

EDTA has a slightly salty taste.

Major uses

EDTA has been used extensively in medicine as a chelating agent for the removal of toxic
heavy metals. The disodium salt of EDTA is a common component in many eye drops and
contact lens wetting and cleansing solutions. EDTA is also used in a number of personal care
and hygiene products, such as shampoos, liquid soaps, creams, and lotions.

Household disinfectants often contain EDTA, especially if fatty acid soaps are used in the
disinfectant formulation. These soaps are sensitive to calcium and magnesium, and the
chelating agent prevents the formation of hard-water soap curds (Hart, 1984).

EDTA is also used as a food additive in a range of products, including canned shrimp and
prawns, canned mushrooms, and frozen french fries. It is added to salad dressings to prevent
rancidity.

EDTA is used in many industrial processes, in agriculture, in photochemicals,

pharmaceuticals, and textiles, and in galvanizing and paper manufacturing. The usage of
EDTA in West Germany in 1986 by industry was: metal processing and galvanizing
technology, 30%; detergents, 20%; photographic industry, 20%; textiles, 10%; paper, 5%; and
miscellaneous (antioxidants in soaps and cosmetics, pharmaceuticals, and foodstuffs), 15%.
The total use over the year was about 15 000 t (Brauch & Schullerer, 1987).

Environmental fate

Once EDTA is present in the aquatic environment, its speciation will depend on the water
quality and the presence of trace metals with which it can combine. The fate and behaviour of
the different complexes may vary considerably. The iron(III) EDTA complex is the most
labile because it is very photo-active. Svenson et al. (1989) calculated a half-life of 11
minutes for the photolysis of iron(III) EDTA dissolved in water and irradiated with sunshine
equivalent to the annual maximum intensity. The photo-oxidation of free EDTA in water at
pH 9.0 has a measured half-life of 36 years for an initial hydroxyl radical concentration of 5 ×
10-9 mol/litre and a 12-hour daylight duration. The iron(III) EDTA will exchange slowly with
other trace metals after discharge to the environment, a process that will be dependent upon
the pH of the water, as each trace metal has an optimum pH for chelation. Other metal
complexes of EDTA are much more persistent and are not readily biodegraded in the aquatic

1
environment. In soil–water systems, degradation has been observed, but the extent varies with
soil type and length of exposure. The removal of EDTA from communal wastewater by
biodegradation in sewage purification plants is very limited. A limited removal takes place by
adsorption on sludge. Similarly, elimination of EDTA by different treatment methods of
drinking-water is negligible, including filtration on activated carbon. The most effective
elimination is by ozonation (Gilbert & Beyerle, 1992).

There has been concern that EDTA mobilizes heavy metals in the environment. However,
based on stoichiometry, 40 µg of EDTA per litre (the maximum concentration observed in the
Rhine and Meuse rivers) would complex 4–15 µg of metals per litre at most, and this would
be likely to pose problems for drinking-water only with regard to cadmium. A further
modifying factor is that the effect on cadmium leaching will be limited because the EDTA is
primarily bound to other metals at these concentrations (van Dijk-Looyard et al., 1990). For
the majority of fresh waters, EDTA will be associated largely with calcium, provided that the
EDTA is not present in stoichiometric excess. For waters of pH lower than 6.0, however,
competition from hydrogen ions for available ligand assumes greater importance.

ANALYTICAL METHODS

EDTA can be analysed by potentiometric stripping analysis (Fayyad et al., 1988). This
method, which has been used to detect EDTA in a wide variety of wastewater and natural
water samples, has a detection limit of 1 µg/litre.

ENVIRONMENTAL LEVELS AND HUMAN EXPOSURE

Water

Most of EDTA's uses will result in its release to the aquatic environment. It has been
estimated that concentrations of 50–500 µg/litre are present in wastewaters. Annual average
concentrations of EDTA in European surface waters ranged between >1 and >60 µg/litre, and
a concentration of 900 µg/litre was found in the Zerka River in Jordan (van Dijk-Looyard et
al., 1990). Measured concentrations in natural waters were also reported to range from 10 to
70 µg/litre, with a median value of 23 µg/litre (Frank & Rau, 1990). Mean EDTA
concentrations at 45 different sampling points on 29 different rivers of Germany in 1993
ranged between almost 50 µg/litre (Lippe River at Wesel) and a few µg/litre, with most
annual mean values being between 5 and 15 µg/litre (EFA-Germany, 1995). EDTA has also
been detected in surface waters and in drinking-water prepared from surface waters at
concentrations of 10–30 µg/litre (van Dijk-Looyard et al., 1990).

Food

EDTA's use as a food additive has been limited. The maximum levels of EDTA in canned
shrimp and prawns, canned mushrooms, and frozen french fries are 250, 200, and 100 mg/kg,
respectively (Smith, 1990).

Estimated total exposure and relative contribution of drinking-water

Human exposure to EDTA arises directly from its use in food additives, disinfectants,
medicines, and personal care and hygiene products. Exposure to EDTA from drinking-water
is probably very small in comparison to exposure from other sources.

2
KINETICS AND METABOLISM IN LABORATORY ANIMALS AND HUMANS

Metabolism in laboratory animals and humans

Foreman et al. (1953) examined the metabolism of 14C-labelled calcium disodium EDTA in
the rat in two series of experiments involving the administration of doses of 50 mg/kg of body
weight, intraperitoneally, intravenously, intramuscularly, or orally by intubation, to Sprague-
Dawley rats. The studies indicated that calcium disodium EDTA was poorly absorbed from
the gastrointestinal tract. About 80–95% of the dose appeared in the faeces after 24 hours.
The amount absorbed in 24 hours, determined from the quantity found in the tissues and
urine, ranged from 2 to 18%, with most of the values being between 2 and 4%. At the low pH
of the stomach, the calcium chelate is dissociated with subsequent precipitation of the free
acid, and this is only slowly redissolved as it passes through the alimentary tract. Increasing
the dose is not necessarily a good way of increasing the amount absorbed, as the rats
exhibited diarrhoea at higher doses. Srbrova & Teisinger (1957) confirmed the dissociation of
the calcium chelate in the stomach. When a dose of 200 mg of calcium disodium EDTA was
introduced into the duodenum of rats, the authors found absorption to be 6.5–26%.

Experiments in humans also revealed poor absorption; only 2.5% of a 3-g dose of calcium
disodium EDTA was excreted in the urine (Srbrova & Teisinger, 1957). Only 5% of a dose of
1.5 mg of 14C-labelled calcium disodium EDTA given in a gelatin capsule to normal healthy
men was absorbed (Foreman & Trujillo, 1954). EDTA has also been shown to be rapidly
excreted from the body. Intravenous doses of 3 g of radiolabelled calcium disodium EDTA,
given to two subjects, were almost entirely excreted within 12–16 hours (Srbrova &
Teisinger, 1957).

A summary of a 1956 Ph.D. thesis by Chan in Anonymous (1964) reported biochemical

studies with disodium EDTA. In a study in rats, 32 hours following administration of a single
oral dose of 95 mg of disodium EDTA per rat, 93% of the dose was recovered from the colon.
After doses of 47.5, 95, and 142.5 mg of disodium EDTA, the amount of EDTA recovered in
the urine was directly proportional to the dose given, suggesting that EDTA was absorbed
from the gastrointestinal tract by passive diffusion.

Metal complexation with EDTA

EDTA is a hexadentate chelator capable of combining stoichiometrically with virtually every

metal in the periodic table (Chaberck & Martell, 1959). With divalent or trivalent metal ions,
a neutral or anionic metal chelate results. The metal is largely prevented from reacting with
competing anions, and its solubility is greatly increased. The effectiveness of EDTA as a
chelate for a particular metal ion is given by its stability constant with the metal ion.
Chelation potential is affected by pH, the molar ratio of chelate to metal ion, and the presence
of competing metal ions capable of forming complexes with EDTA (Plumb et al., 1950;
Martell, 1960; Hart, 1984). The stability constants for different metal–EDTA complexes vary
considerably, and any metal that is capable of forming a strong complex with EDTA will at
least partially displace another metal.

Of the nutritionally important metals, Fe3+ has the highest stability constant (log k = 25.1),
followed by Cu2+ with 18.4, Zn2+ with 16.1, Fe2+ with 14.6, Ca2+ with 10.6, Mg2+ with 8.7,
and Na+ with 1.7 (West & Sykes, 1960). The situation is somewhat complicated by each
metal having an optimum pH for chelate formation, ranging from pH 1 for Fe3+ to pH 3 for
Cu2+, pH 4 for Zn2+, pH 5 for Fe2+, pH 7.5 for Ca2+, and pH 10 for Mg2+ (West & Sykes,
1960). When sodium iron EDTA is ingested with foods, the Fe3+ ion would be expected to
remain firmly bound to the EDTA moiety during passage through the gastric juice, but it
could be exchanged for Cu2+, Zn2+, Fe2+, or Ca2+ in the duodenum (WHO, 1993).

3
In biological systems, Ca2+ will usually be most accessible to EDTA. In general, zinc seems
to be the next most accessible. About 80% of the zinc in liver is freely available to EDTA.
The overall availability of the other physiologically important metals is probably in the order
copper > iron > manganese > cobalt (Chenoweth, 1961). EDTA removes about 1.4% of the
total iron from ferritin at pH 7.4 to form an iron chelate (Westerfield, 1961).

Perry & Perry (1959) investigated the changes in normal concentrations of trace metals in
human urine following administration of EDTA. Calcium disodium EDTA had been observed
to lower the level of cholesterol in human plasma, and therefore this study investigated metal
concentrations in consecutive 24-hour urine samples from hypercholesterolaemic patients
before, during, and after the intravenous administration of calcium disodium EDTA. The
results indicated a 10-fold increase in urinary excretion of zinc during the administration of
calcium disodium EDTA. A smaller effect on cadmium and manganese may have occurred,
but the results were not clear, because some of the control concentrations were too low to
quantify. There were also suggestive increases in the excretion of lead and vanadium.
Foreman (1961) reported that EDTA enhanced the excretion of cobalt, mercury, manganese,
nickel, lead, thallium, and tungsten.

When EDTA is present in food, iron (primarily Fe3+) remains complexed with EDTA under
the acidic conditions prevailing in the stomach. The chelate holds the iron in solution as the
pH rises in the upper small intestine, but the strength of the complex is progressively reduced,
allowing at least partial exchange with other metals and the release of some of the iron for
absorption. There is convincing evidence that iron chelated by EDTA (sodium iron EDTA) is
available for absorption via the physiologically regulated pathways responsible for iron
uptake (Candela et al., 1984). The results of the absorption studies with sodium iron EDTA
indicate that iron is dissociated from the EDTA moiety prior to absorption.

Hurrell et al. (1994) examined the influence of sodium iron(III) EDTA, used as a food
fortificant, on the metabolism of calcium, zinc, and copper in the rat. The results showed that
changing the iron fortificant from iron sulfate to sodium iron(III) EDTA increased the
apparent zinc absorption, retention, and excretion in the rats receiving the zinc-deficient diets.
The authors suggest that the study appears to indicate a beneficial effect on zinc nutritional
status following addition of sodium iron(III) EDTA as an iron food fortificant. However, the
results are complicated by the fact that iron status is an important factor in zinc metabolism
and a high level of iron inhibits the availability of zinc. In addition, the diets contained
soybean protein, which is high in phytate, an inhibitor of both iron and zinc absorption. These
factors make it difficult to draw any definite conclusions from this study.

EFFECTS ON EXPERIMENTAL ANIMALS AND IN VITRO TEST SYSTEMS

Acute exposure

Acute toxicity studies have been carried out with disodium EDTA and calcium disodium
EDTA in laboratory animals. LD50 values (mg/kg of body weight) reported in these studies
are summarized below:

Rat Oral: 2000–2200, Na2EDTA (Yang, 1952)

Oral: 10 000 ± 740, CaNa2EDTA (Oser et al., 1963)
Rabbit Oral: 2300, Na2EDTA (Shibata, 1956)
Oral: ~7000, CaNa2EDTA (Oser et al., 1963)
Intraperitoneal: ~500, (Bauer et al., 1952)
CaNa2EDTA
Dog Oral: ~12 000, CaNa2EDTA (Oser et al., 1963)

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Oser et al. (1963) reported that the oral LD50 in rats was not affected by the presence of food
in the stomach or by pre-existing deficiency in calcium, iron, copper, or manganese.

Short-term exposure

In a study involving the intraperitoneal administration of 250 or 500 mg of calcium disodium

EDTA per kg of body weight per day to groups of five male rats for 3–21 days, it was
reported that weight gain was satisfactory and that the histology of the lung, thymus, liver,
spleen, adrenal, small gut, and heart was normal; there was a mild to moderate effect on the
kidney (Reuber & Schmieller, 1962).

Groups of five male rats were given 250, 400, or 500 mg of disodium EDTA per kg of body
weight per day intraperitoneally for 3–31 days; some groups were observed for an additional
2 weeks. At 500 mg/kg of body weight per day, all rats became lethargic and died within 9
days; the kidneys were pale and swollen, and there was moderate dilation of the bowel and
subserosal haemorrhages. Histological examination of a number of organs showed lesions
only in the kidneys. Animals at the 400 mg/kg of body weight per day dose level died within
14 days; kidney and bowel symptoms were similar to those seen at the high dose. One rat in
the 250 mg/kg of body weight per day dose group showed haemorrhage of the thymus. All
three groups exhibited varying degrees of damage to the kidney, with recovery occurring on
withdrawal of the disodium EDTA (Reuber & Schmieller, 1962).

Four groups of one male and three female mongrel dogs were fed diets containing 0, 50, 100,
or 200 mg of calcium disodium EDTA per kg of body weight per day for 12 months. At the
end of the study, all dogs appeared to be well, and there were no significant changes in blood
or urine analysis. Gross and microscopic examinations of the major organs were normal (Oser
et al., 1963).

Long-term exposure

The long-term toxicity of EDTA is complicated by its ability to chelate essential and toxic
metals, both in water and in animals. Toxicity data are therefore equivocal and difficult to
interpret.

An early study by Krum (1948) demonstrated no adverse effect on weight gain, appetite,
activity, and appearance in rats fed for 44–52 weeks on a diet containing 0.5% disodium
EDTA.

A 2-year study was carried out in which groups of rats were fed 0, 0.5, 1, or 5% disodium
EDTA. The highest dose group showed a reduced food intake compared with the other groups
and also suffered diarrhoea. No significant effects on weight gain were noted, nor were blood
coagulation time, red blood cell counts, or bone ash adversely affected. Mortality of the
animals could not be correlated with the level of disodium EDTA, as the highest mortality
was observed in the control group and was due to pneumonia. Gross and microscopic
examinations of the major organs did not reveal any significant differences between the
groups (Yang, 1952).

In another study, groups of 25 male and 25 female rats were fed diets containing 0, 50, 125,
or 250 mg of calcium disodium EDTA per kg of body weight per day for 2 years, and the
study was carried on through four successive generations. The rats were mated after 12 weeks
of feeding and were allowed to lactate for 3 weeks, with 1 week's rest before producing a
second litter. Ten male and 10 female rats from the F1 generation and similar F2 and F3
generations were allowed to produce two litters. With the second litter in the F1, F2, and F3
generations, only the control and the 250 mg/kg of body weight per day dose groups were

5
kept until the end of the 2-year study on the F0 generation. No significant abnormalities in
appearance or behaviour were noted during the 12 weeks of the post-weaning period in all
generations. The experiments showed no statistically significant differences in weight gain,
food efficiency, haematopoiesis, blood sugar, non-protein nitrogen, serum calcium, urine,
organ weights, and histopathology of the liver, kidney, spleen, heart, adrenals, thyroid, and
gonads (Oser et al., 1963).

Fifty weanling albino rats were fed a low-mineral diet (0.54% calcium and 0.013% iron) with
the addition of 0, 0.5, or 1% disodium EDTA or 0.5 or 1% calcium disodium EDTA for 205
days. Diarrhoea was observed in the 1% disodium EDTA group, along with other
abnormalities: growth retardation of the males, lowered erythrocyte and leukocyte counts, a
prolonged blood coagulation time, slightly but significantly raised blood calcium level, a
significantly lower ash content of the bone, and considerable erosion of the molars. Gross and
histological examinations of the major organs revealed nothing abnormal. Rats fed for 220
days on an adequate mineral diet containing 1% disodium EDTA showed no evidence of
dental erosion (Chan, 1956).

Groups of 50 male and 50 female B6C3F1 mice received trisodium EDTA in the diet at
concentrations of 3, 750, or 7500 mg/kg of feed for 103 weeks, followed by 1 week during
which the mice were fed standard diet without EDTA. The animals were examined twice per
day for signs of toxicity. Gross and histopathological examinations of major organs and
tissues were performed on animals found dead or moribund and on those sacrificed at the end
of the study. Body-weight gain was decreased in high-dose males during the second year of
the study, although no statistical analysis was presented. No treatment-related tumours or
non-neoplastic lesions were observed in this study (NCI, 1977).

Reproductive and developmental toxicity

Groups of six rats were maintained on diets containing 0.5, 1, or 5% disodium EDTA for 12
weeks. The only toxic symptoms observed were diarrhoea and a reduction in food
consumption at the 5% level. When the animals were 100 days old, mating was carried out
and was repeated 10 days after weaning of the first litters. The animals given 5% disodium
EDTA did not produce any litters. The other dose groups produced normal first and second
litters (Yang, 1952).

Oser et al. (1963) carried out a four-generation study in which groups of rats received calcium
disodium EDTA at doses of 50, 125, or 250 mg/kg of body weight per day via the diet. There
were no reproductive or teratogenic effects noted in any of the three generations of offspring.

Groups of pregnant Sprague-Dawley rats were given diets containing 2 or 3% disodium

EDTA from day 1 through day 21 of gestation. A further group of pregnant rats was fed diets
containing 3% disodium EDTA from day 6 to day 14 of gestation, whereas a third group was
given diets containing 3% disodium EDTA and 1000 mg of zinc per kg of feed from day 6 to
day 21 of gestation. The control animals received a standard diet that contained 100 mg of
zinc per kg of feed. In rats fed the 2% disodium EDTA, litter size was normal and fetuses
were alive. Gross abnormalities were evident in 7% of the treated fetuses, compared with 0%
in the control group. In rats fed 3% disodium EDTA, almost half of the implantation sites had
dead fetuses or resorptions. Full-term young were significantly smaller than controls, and
100% of them were malformed. Maternal toxicity was indicated by diarrhoea and was
observed in both the 2% and 3% dose groups. The malformations included severe brain
malformations, cleft palate, malformed digits, clubbed legs, and malformed tails.
Supplementation of the diet with 1000 mg of zinc per kg of feed prevented these detrimental
effects, and it was suggested that the teratogenic effects of EDTA given to rats at very high
levels were due to zinc deficiency (Swenerton & Hurley, 1971).

6
Schardein et al. (1981) performed teratogenesis studies with EDTA and its salts in rats.
EDTA (967 mg/kg of body weight), disodium EDTA (1243 mg/kg of body weight), trisodium
EDTA (1245 mg/kg of body weight), tetrasodium EDTA (1374 mg/kg of body weight), and
calcium disodium EDTA (1340 mg/kg of body weight) were administered orally (by
intubation) to groups of 20 inseminated female rats during organogenesis. The dosing
regimen was twice daily on days 7–14 of gestation. There were two control groups. One
group received 1.0 ml of phosphate buffer per kg of body weight twice daily to serve as a
vehicle control group, and the other remained untreated and served as an untreated control
group. The dams were killed on day 21 of gestation, and litter data for each dam were
collected. The fetuses were then examined for gross external anomalies, visceral
abnormalities, and skeletal anomalies. Diarrhoea was apparent in all the treated groups, and
reduced activity was observed in a few of the dams. The diarrhoea generally occurred
following treatment and disappeared on the last day of dosing or the day after. Three dams
died during treatment with disodium EDTA. Examination of these did not indicate any gross
abnormalities. Food intake was slightly reduced compared with controls during the treatment
period of days 7–14 but was comparable to the controls during the pre-treatment period
(gestation days 0–7) and post-treatment period (gestation days 14–21). None of the test
compounds significantly affected litter size at term when compared with either control group.
The mortality index of the offspring in all treated groups as measured by post-implantation
loss was also comparable to both control groups. A total of 24 pups from the treated groups
had abnormalities, including bifid vertebrae, agenesis of the ribs, inhibition of osteogenesis of
the skull or ribs, and malformed ribs. There was, however, no pattern between treatment with
any particular compound and the appearance of anomalies. In addition, the untreated control
group had eight pups with some major defect. The results of these studies demonstrated that
there was an absence of teratogenic effects even at doses that were maternally toxic.

An important study was carried out by Brownie et al. (1986), who investigated the teratogenic
effect of calcium EDTA in rats and the protective effect of zinc. Pregnant Long-Evans rats
were randomly assigned to 11 treatment groups corresponding to differing doses of calcium
EDTA (2, 4, 6, or 8 mmol/m2 per day), zinc EDTA (8 or 20 mmol/m2 per day), and zinc
calcium EDTA (8 or 20 mmol/m2 per day), plus controls. Each group contained 20 rats,
except for the control group receiving 0.9% NaCl, which contained 30 rats. A further 12
animals per group were used for maternal plasma and liver and fetal zinc analysis. The rats
were treated by subcutaneous injection of the chelating agent or saline solution on days 11
through 15 of gestation. Results showed increases in several abnormalities (e.g. submucous
cleft, cleft palate, curly tail, abnormal rib and vertebrae) with increasing doses of calcium
EDTA. No malformations were seen with zinc EDTA at either dose or with zinc calcium
EDTA at the lower dose. However, submucous cleft was seen in 6 of 20 litters from the dams
receiving the higher dose of zinc calcium EDTA. It was concluded that calcium EDTA is
teratogenic in rats at concentrations that, except for decreased weight gain, produce no
discernible toxicity to the dam, and that protection is afforded by incorporating zinc in the
chelate.

A study was carried out by Kimmel (1977) in which groups of pregnant CD rats were treated
with disodium EDTA via a number of different routes of exposure. Forty-two rats received a
dose of 954 mg/kg of body weight per day via the diet. Twenty-two received a dose of 1250
mg/kg of body weight per day, which was split into a dose of 625 mg/kg of body weight twice
per day by gastric intubation. Eight rats received 1500 mg/kg of body weight per day as a
split dose of 750 mg/kg of body weight twice per day by gastric intubation. Twenty-five rats
received a dose of 375 mg/kg of body weight per day by subcutaneous injection. All the
animals were dosed on gestation days 7–14. Fetuses were removed on day 21 of gestation and
examined for gross and visceral abnormalities. The results showed that for the dietary group,
there were no maternal deaths but a significant increase in fetal death compared with the
controls, and 71% of the fetuses were malformed. In the group that was administered 625
mg/kg of body weight per day by gavage, only 64% of the dams survived treatment. Those

7
that survived exhibited fetal resorptions comparable to controls, and 20.5% of the fetuses
were malformed. In the group administered 750 mg/kg of body weight per day, seven of the
eight dams died. The group receiving subcutaneous injection of disodium EDTA showed a
76% survival of the dams. However, there was a significant increase in fetal resorptions
compared with controls, although the proportion of malformed fetuses was similar to the
controls. This study demonstrates that the route of exposure to EDTA is an important factor in
the determination of the toxicity and teratogenic potential of EDTA.

Mutagenicity and related end-points

Trisodium EDTA was tested for its mutagenic potential in the L5178Y tk+/tk- mouse
lymphoma cell forward mutation assay. Two experiments were performed with S9 metabolic
activation system and three without S9 at concentrations of EDTA up to 5000 mg/litre. No
mutagenicity was observed either with or without the S9 (McGregor et al., 1988).

Trisodium EDTA was also tested in Salmonella typhimurium TA98, TA100, TA1535,
TA1537, and TA1538 and in Escherichia coli WP uvrA in the presence and absence of the S9
metabolic activation system. There was no evidence of any mutagenic potential in any of
these bacterial systems (Dunkel et al., 1985).

Carcinogenicity

In an experiment in which groups of 50 male and 50 female B6C3F1 mice received trisodium
EDTA in the diet at concentrations of 3, 750, or 7500 mg/kg of feed for 103 weeks, followed
by 1 week during which the mice were fed standard diet without EDTA, no treatment-related
tumours were observed (NCI, 1977).

GUIDELINE VALUE

JECFA evaluated the toxicological studies available on sodium iron EDTA in 1993 (WHO,
1993), and there was no further information, compared with its 1973 evaluation (WHO,
1974), of noteworthy importance regarding the toxicity of EDTA and its calcium/sodium
salts. Concern has been expressed over the ability of EDTA to complex zinc and therefore
reduce its availability. However, this is only of significance at elevated doses substantially in
excess of those encountered in the environment. The use of an additional uncertainty factor
and the assumption of a 10-kg child were therefore considered inappropriate.

A guideline value for EDTA in drinking-water can be derived by allocating 1% of the JECFA
ADI (1.9 mg/kg of body weight as the free acid) to drinking-water (because of the potential
for significant exposure from food owing to its use as a food additive). Therefore, assuming a
60-kg adult ingesting 2 litres of drinking-water per day, the guideline value for EDTA (free
acid) is 600 µg/litre (rounded figure). This value is no longer considered to be provisional.

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