ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid

7.9

A medicine that binds and removes harmful metals like lead from the body

noun
/ˌɛθɪlinˌdiːəˌmaɪnˌtɛtrəəˈsiːtɪk ˈæsɪd/

Specialized

: ácido etilendiaminotetraacético

Doctors often use ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid to treat lead poisoning.

Examples

The doctor prescribed ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid to treat the patient's lead poisoning.
Researchers used ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid to chelate excess metal ions in the laboratory solution.
Industrial cleaners sometimes contain ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid to neutralize metal deposits.
ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid is effective.
The doctor prescribed ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid to treat the patient's lead poisoning.
Doctors often use ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid to remove heavy metals from the body.
Researchers used ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid to chelate excess metal ions in the laboratory solution.

Synonyms

EDTA

vsethylenediaminetetraacetic acid

Specialized

4 7.5

A man-made chemical that sticks to metal ions to remove them from blood or other liquids

is used specifically to bind and remove metals from the living body

Surface Forms

ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid singular

ethylenediaminetetraacetic acids plural

Morphology

ethylenediaminetetraacetic + acid

This is a technical IUPAC-style chemical name whose long first element is not a familiar lexical item to a B1 learner; knowing only the final word 'acid' would at best signal it is an acid but not that it binds and removes metal ions. The specialised chelating/medical meaning cannot be derived from the visible constituents, so the expression is opaque to learners.

Etymology

Ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid is a scientific name made from parts: ethylene, diamine, and tetraacetic acid, which describe pieces of the molecule. Those parts help the molecule 'bind' metal, so the long name is a hint that it is used to 'remove metal' from the body.