Product Overview
Trisodium EDTA (CAS 150-38-9) is a technical grade chelating agent supplied as an odorless white crystalline powder. It binds dissolved metal ions — calcium, magnesium, iron, copper — into stable, water-soluble complexes, which is why formulators reach for it whenever free metal ions cause scale, precipitation, discoloration, or catalyzed breakdown in a process stream. Water-treatment operators, industrial cleaner blenders and plant QC teams buy it to control metal ion concentrations and keep formulations stable. We offer it to order in pack sizes from 2 lb jars up to 55 lb containers, packed and shipped from our Taylor, Texas warehouse.
Why This Concentration
Technical grade is the workhorse designation for this chemistry. It signals a product specified for industrial performance — effective chelation in cleaners, water treatment and metal ion sequestration — rather than for procurement workflows that request higher-grade designations. If your process needs the EDTA to do a job (tie up hardness ions, hold iron in solution, stop metal-catalyzed degradation), technical grade is typically the cost-effective choice. If your purchasing spec calls for a higher-grade EDTA salt, review your requirements against the product documents before ordering; a grade label on its own is a procurement designation, not proof of a monograph or test method. As a distributor, our recommendation is simple: match the grade to the paperwork your application actually requires and request the SDS and lot documentation up front.
Chemical Profile
Trisodium EDTA — ethylenediamine tetraacetic acid, trisodium salt — carries the formula C10H13N2Na3O8, a molecular weight of 358.19 and CAS number 150-38-9. It is an odorless white crystalline powder in solid form. The bulk material has a density of 0.7215, less dense than water. Solubility runs 5 to 10 mg/mL at 70.7 °F. In solution it is mildly alkaline: a 1% aqueous solution reads pH 9.3 and a 10% solution reads roughly pH 8.3–8.7. That alkaline character matters in practice — it distinguishes the trisodium salt from more acidic EDTA forms and affects how it behaves in a finished cleaner or treatment blend.
Industrial Applications
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Metal ion sequestration.The core job. In process water, plating rinses and formulated products, trisodium EDTA locks up dissolved metals so they can't precipitate, stain, or interfere with downstream chemistry.
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Water treatment.Operators use chelating agents to bind heavy metals and hardness ions in treatment programs, keeping metals in solution where they can be managed instead of fouling equipment as scale or sludge.
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Industrial cleaners.Chelation is what lets a cleaner work in hard water. Blenders add trisodium EDTA to detergent and cleaning formulations to tie up calcium and magnesium so surfactants stay effective and mineral films rinse away.
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Formulation stabilization.Trace metals catalyze oxidation and discoloration in many formulated products. Sequestering those metals extends formulation stability. Note that cosmetic and technical applications typically specify grades procured against those industries' own requirements; evaluate this technical grade against your spec.
Handling & Storage
Treat this powder with respect. The product carries the signal word Danger, with hazard statements including H302 (harmful if swallowed), H332 (harmful if inhaled), H302+H332, H318 (causes serious eye damage), H319 (causes serious eye irritation) and H373 (may cause damage to organs through prolonged or repeated exposure) (per the product's GHS classification). Serious eye damage is the standout risk with a fine crystalline powder — wear tight-fitting goggles and gloves and control dust at the point of transfer.
Storage is straightforward: keep it cool, dry and out of direct sunlight, with containers tightly sealed against moisture ingress. Keep it away from strong oxidizing agents. HDPE and glass containers are compatible. Our warehouse team handles it the same way — sealed containers, dry storage, no oxidizer co-storage.
Hazmat & Shipping
Trisodium EDTA is not assigned a UN number, hazard class, packing group, or proper shipping name in the hazardous materials table (per 49 CFR 172.101). It moves as ordinary freight rather than as regulated hazardous material. Carrier services, fees and delivery terms are set by the carrier and your account — the classification above is the governed transport fact. Our team packs it for ground transit from Taylor, TX in the listed 2 lb, 5 lb and 55 lb formats, sealed against moisture the same way we store it.
Documentation
A Safety Data Sheet ships with every order and we maintain the SDS in English, Spanish, French and Japanese — useful for multi-site EHS programs and cross-border compliance files. A technical data sheet is available and a lot-specific Certificate of Analysis is available on request, so your receiving and QC records can tie each container back to its production lot. Review the SDS before first use.
Why Buy from Alliance Chemical
You can buy this material at the scale you actually use it — 2 lb and 5 lb containers for bench work, trials and small-batch blending, up to 55 lb containers for production — with SDS coverage in four languages and lot-specific COAs backing every shipment. Alliance Chemical has operated as an industrial chemical distributor since 1998, serving more than 55,000 customers from our Taylor, Texas warehouse. Shipping and handling guidance on this page is reviewed by Andre Taki, DOT Hazmat Specialist. No hype: a chelating agent, correctly classified, correctly documented, packed by people who ship industrial chemicals every day.
