The Metal Claw Hiding in Your Food
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- Опубліковано 23 вер 2024
- Have you ever seen "calcium disodium EDTA" on an ingredients label and wondered what it's doing in your food? As it turns out, ethylenediamene triacetate is an important preservative that's helping to preserve your food. It's totally safe, and really interesting chemistry besides.s
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EDTA is a tetraacetate, not triacetate. Best wishes from a chemist and long term fan 😘
Thanks for flagging! This was a silly mistake that slipped through!
Why is this video still up with such a giant error? @@SciShow
@@halakahiki2giant error 😭
I'm glad I'm not the only one that WTF'd at that obvious of an error. They even made a visual of the wrong structure!
But it looked in the picture like a triacstate?
Sometimes I forget that chemistry is a thing that happens in 3D because I'm always seeing chemicals drawn on a page, but it's sp cool that this stuff 'hugs' around metal ions
sometimes even 4D iirc :O
@@jesscmcmxc I don't think you could model chemicals in 4D as there are only 3 spatial dimensions.
@@vidal9747 well there are things like time crystals that are 4D, right? 😯
@@jesscmcmxc No. Time Crystals are just symmetrical in time. Furthermore, they aren't actually real. A Crystal is something in a minimized energy state. It exists without external energy. I don't like the definition of time crystals itself as they need constant energy to be maintained in that state. Furthermore, time crystals just change cell parameters in a periodical way. They don't create new chemical species nor they change the molecule a lot. So, you couldn't argue that a molecule is living in 4 dimensions. There is no periodical changing of the molecule itself outside of some small changes in atomic distances.
One example with real life 3d crystals are polymorphs. They are crystals with the same chemicals but different cell parameters or even cell types. They don't change the molecule. So you couldn't argue that dynamically transitioning from one polymorph to another is doing chemistry in 4d.
I've tried to explain this very issue to some people. My go to simple explanation for people with no knowledge of chemistry, is that sodium is a metal that explodes if you throw it in water, and chlorine is a poisonous gas. But, if you combine them. It's a mineral that you can't live without.
I use that, as well as pointing out that things like vitamins have real names like Cyanocobalamine, and only get called B12 because it's easier to say, so just because something doesn't have a catchy name doesn't mean it's not a safe and useful substance.
It's just so disappointing we're going the reverse direction as a society when it comes to this. Solely due to politics. Climate change, trans people existing, and vaccines caused an entire political party to reject science because they didn't like the vaccine and "screw the science it's definitely unsafe according to these few 'doctors' who just so happen to make a lot of money from their opinion (views on videos)"
Try explaining that chlorine is within every bit of water they drink, they would probably be so baffled.
I work in the flavor industry, and it would make peoples' heads spin if the "natural flavoring" had to be broken out by ingredients. I think people mistakenly believe that "natural flavoring" means it came from the implied fruit or whatever, when in reality natural flavors are made in labs just like the artificial and N&A ones. Just with flavor/aroma chemicals broken down from natural sources rather than being outright synthesized.
I mean, if you broke an apple down into its individual chemical components and listed them, it would make peoples' heads spin. They'd run screaming that Big Apple is a conspiracy trying to kill them 😅
@@IceMetalPunk Yeah, but that's more just analytical chemistry. Anything can be broken down to chemical constituents if you want. We literally build the flavors out of their individual components in a lab, and then in a production facility to be added to products. It quickly made me stop caring about artificial vs. natural flavoring.
Thank you and yes, the example of Orange juice in the US is prime and easy to understand.
It's all organic and natural orange juice.
Even after it's been processed down to individual chemicals and reconstituted into a drink mix.
Dehydration or not dehydrated is the biggest difference between anything.
It's delicious and I don't have any negative affects from it, so it's all good.
But, natural orange juice? No!
The US needs to make it illegal to keep an original name and description, after a product is broken down.
I would love to see the chemistry and how many people would learn something that's actually useful and amazing.
What the consumer wants is a dream. The flawless peach that is brighter and more flavorful than any natural creation could possibly be. Everything perfect and of the highest quality, picked by organic virgins under the full moonlight. Chemicals are poison, natural contaimination is disgusting, tap water is toxic. The number of people in my country that didn't understand that fruit doesn't grow naturally in the middle of winter sadens me. There's a reason so much food goes to waste.
@@garethdean6382 "...picked by organic virgins under the full moonlight." 😂
wow! i work in a lab where EDTA is the anticoagulant we accept for our tests! it's nice to see what it's all about!!!
That was my first thought too
Same here (I took a phlebotomy class)
Fun fact, EDTA is also used in full water analysis when it comes to titration.
Yeah to measure hardness.
It’s also what we use in test tubes for most hematology bloodwork
EDTA is awesome. It still terrifies me though cause it’ll eat through teeth faster than cola lol
and in shampoos to foam even in hard water (excess calcium is chelated)
@@LiborTinka That is how we use EDTA to measure water hardness. You titrate EDTA into a water sample till all the hardness is gone. The amount of EDTA you use is the "hardness" level.
You thought water can be toxic? Just wait until you hear about dihydrogen monoxide!
Oh no! DHMO. We're all gonna die! We're all gonna die!
Good bye dear friends. 🤣
@@richardl6751We all are going to die after drinking it, I hear it’s in our TAP water!!!!
@@richardl6751 People don't understand... It's in everything. And it's not only dangerous to animals - it can even ruin your phone.
Never mind dihydrogen monoxide. Have you heard about the dangers posed by hydroxylic acid?
So many people overdose on it every year. It's out of control. Some parts of the country are literally flooded with it.
I was told that EDTA is calcium disodium ethylene diamine TETRAacetate, just like the chemical structure that was displayed. When EDTA is used to remove heavy metals from the blood, it is administered by IV over several hours. It is done that way since roughly 5% is absorbed when swallowed.
Yes, calcium EDTA is able to chelate heavy metals like lead from the blood because the lead is able to displace the calcium in the molecule. Thus the lead is bound to the EDTA and calcium is released.
Regular unbound EDTA is used as an anticoagulant in blood tubes used for testing because it binds the Ca ions that are necessary to form clots. The medication used to draw out heavy metals is already in this EDTA+calcium form so it doesnt interfere negatively with your blood calcium, and only then reacts with the lead.
5% is pretty low bioavailability
Correct; tetra acetate
My favorite chemical bonding analogy involves pets:
Ionic = dog, after you adopt it from the shelter, it’s yours.
Covalent = cat, divides its time between your house and neighbors.
Polar covalent = cat has preference for your house.
Nonpolar covalent = cat spends equal time between your house and the neighbors.
"So, are you an ionic bond type of person or more of a covalent bond?" 😂
I love this!!
@@woodneel covalent one here
Metalic: Cockroaches. Everywhere all the time, nobody wants them but nobody can get rid of them.
What is a coordinate covalent bond then?
Also an anticoagulant additive to blood draw tubes.
Thanks to the post-bacc chem class I took YEARS ago, I knew the video was about EDTA just by reading the title. Thanks, Chemistry professor.
EDTA is also useful in DNA Extraction buffers for sequencing or like workflows
I just love it when people are like 'oh no, CHEMICALS OOOOOO spooky!' I don't know when or how this started but we now have whole generations where chemicals = bad.
I think it's always been a thing. People fear what they don't understand, so since the dawn of human agriculture, ingredients someone isn't aware of have been "scary" to them. Synthetic ingredients have just increased the amount of ingredients most people don't know about.
Because there used to be absolutely no concern about using the strongest possible pesticides like they were water.
That’s why I say… “stay away from EDTA! “
@@IceMetalPunk europeans were deathly afraid of tomatos when they were first discovered, the bright coloring made them assume they were highly toxic.
To their credit, tomato plants ARE in the nightshade family and there are many juicy berries that will rupture your insides when eaten
It comes from industrial abuse. Companies adulterating food products to save on costs and increase profit margins. 100 years ago they would literally put sawdust in dough and call it bread. It’s why the FDA exists. As the science develops, more compounds are discovered to have detrimental effects to consumer health, but industry always is a step ahead and buys politicians to appoint unscrupulous people to head agencies like the FDA. We always find out how bad things are decades later and only when the companies have discovered a more profitable work around for the substance they were previously using. At least that’s my cynical take on it.
Huh, isn't EDTA EthyleneDiamineTetraAcetate? Calcium + disodium would be +4 so you need tetraacetate (-4) to balance it.
Also, the synthesis method whether chloroacetic acid or formaldehyde+cyanide method should add 4 carbolxylic group.
Edited: the picture at 3:26 does show 4 carboxyl groups
Yes, or ethylenediaminetetraaceticacid, but they have a structure at 0:23 that has only three acetate groups. I've never heard of the 'triacetate version, though.
Same here!
@@thebuzzahfollowing
yes that was a mistake, it was meant to be tetraacetate. The pinned comment brings t to attention.
OMG best metaphor / analogy whatever for types of bonds, using a business model. Got it!
i did not even know that edta is used in edible stuff, i literally just used edta earlier to do a complexometry reaction
explain your funny science words for me magic man
IIRC some toothpastes use it too against bacterial biofilms, and it's common in bar soaps, and possibly korean skincare face masks. The different brand ones I bought last month all contained it at least.
I love EDTA! It's in some veterinary ear cleaners & increases the efficacy of topical medications. It's also an anticoagulant we use in some blood sample collection tubes.
Hell yeah a chemistry episode. More chemistry videos pls
Is called a fork, the metal claw hiding in my food, thumbnail...
5:30 Yes, there *is* indeed, a lethal amount of water.
And it is not even that much..
Huh, that's nifty! Thanks for the video, y'all!
Its less of a claw and more of an electromagnet
More like an electrostatic claw though
I'm not sure I would describe it as such. EDTA (and other chelators) have very high stability complexes with many metals and cannot simply be switched "off". The geometry of chelators plays such an important part that I think that calling it a claw is just more accurate than an electromagnet. Additionally, EDTA works with a wide range of metals, not only a small selection (I know electromagnets are not literally in food, but they are limited solely to ferromagnetic metals - mainly steel).
@@ozmiumYT
I didn't specify ferromagnetism. It can be electrostatic like Stefan pointed out.
Both 🧲⚡🦞
I swear people under SciShow videos upvote the most ridicolously wrong comments for fun
EDTA is also the anti-coagulant used in purple top test tubes...the ones used when they draw blood for red blood cell counts (among other tests).
Oh yeah, I remember EDTA. I used it in some of my laboratory classes as part of Quantitative Chemistry back when I was still on my way to be a Medical Laboratory Scientist.
Edta is also used to chelate micronutrient in fertilizer, keeps them from binding to other elements depending on ph
Huh. I know EDTA as an additive in test tubes for blood collection, generally for hematology tests.
4:17
EDTA: "Alright buddy, you've just lost your metal privileges!"
So what I'm hearing is I can treat my lead poisoning with twinkies?
Barely any at all is actually absorbed unfortunately. I had the same idea…
The thing that grabs metals like a claw. There's no claw made of metal in your food.
True. Could have been worded better
I think the video makes that very clear.
There is if you use a fork
@@professorfrog7181 - Tangentially, people who eat rice with a fork are a menace.
I'm not worried about the chemicals I can't pronounce, I'm worried about the ones I can.
The claw's just hiding there, menacingly.
It is also used in dilute quantities with some liquid drug formulations as it is effective at binding trace metal contaminates resulting from wear of metal processing equipment.
That's really cool, you guys should do more videos like this.
EDTA is actually ethylenediaminetetraactetic acid - and its compounds are acetates. Stefan, might have been worth mentioning one very common use is to remove metals from saline solution used by contact lens users.
Now if only we could get all the "If I can't pronounce it I won't eat it" and "chemicals are evil" people to watch this. . .
So the reason for the misleading "don't eat it if you can't pronounce it" thing is actually to get people to stop buying certain items from grocery stores, because the items sold in the store contain very unhealthy levels of salts and sugars. It's to make the point that big companies DO NOT have your health in mind and that food which might taste and look exactly the same can have wildly different ingredients. People have gotten very good at mimicking flavors, so your taste buds are not a useful way of figuring out whether something is or isn't healthy. If someone is buying bread at a Farmer's Market or bakery and they see "EDTA" on the label, well they can ask the vendor what that is and get it explained. Supermarket bread doesn't even use EDTA anyway, they use maltodextrin and it's derivatives, which are corn-based sugars. The issue is that these sugars don't taste sweet, so people don't know they are there unless they read the label. Not only is maltodextrin not healthy, in the amounts which people regularly consume if they buy bread from the supermarket, it is also a result of a bill that seriously needs restructuring: so there is a political angle to this as well as a health one. This is a thing which should not exist, it only exists because the Farm Bill encourages the overproduction of corn which is both unhealthy for humans and for the planet (because it displaces the prairie which would otherwise be a massive carbon sink). You can quibble with the wording of the advice, and you should because it's not particularly good wording, however understand that it is NOT coming from an anti-science perspective. It is coming from a perspective that centers human health, not human convenience. The point is to get people to buy from local vendors who both aren't going to overuse preservatives (because they have no need to) and who produce much less carbon emissions in their manufacturing process. Plus keeping your money within your community means you benefit from that money even after you've spent it. That's the motivation behind people giving this advice. Again, I would put it differently, but that doesn't make the advice ill-intended.
My first thought was: "What is that?"
"And why is it there?"
Imagine if people called it "umami seasoning" instead of monosodium glutamate. All of the stigma would be gone.
If EDTA is a medicine and preservative, I'm curious on how many lives it has saved
Glifosate (Roundup) is also anquelating aging. Edta is safe, though.
I originally thought this was going to be a satire piece justifying the lead in Lunchables through hilarious means.
my chemistry brainrot is so bad i saw the title and immediately thought about chelation
that’s like the opposite of brainrot, good brainrot
seeing a pattern and connecting it to scientific concepts (instead of seeing a pattern and connecting it to inexplicably popular memes)
We also need the ion to be Fe^2+, not just elemental Fe, for us to digest it. That’s why iron tablets have ferrous fumarate or similar rather than just grinding iron metal into a powder.
Wait edta? Like the additive in most blood test tubes?
... edta is an initialism not an acronym and ON THIS HILL I WILL DIE
An initialism is a type of acronym.
@@LawTaranisno it isnt. If you pronounce it as a word, it's an acronym. If not, it's not.
it's an acronym if I pronounce it "edtuh"
@@HarryDirtay Interesting. All acronyms are initialisms and abbreviations. Not all initialisms are acronyms. TIL.
"know the rules so you can break them for effect" 🧘🏻♀️
Now I want popcorn...
Blade uses something with the anagram EDTA to kill vampires. Except it was the anticoagulant Ethylenediaminetetraacetic Acid
Fascinating.
also used as a chelating agent for foliar applied micro nutrients
"Everything is less scary once you understand how it works."
EDTA: No metal for you!
Now we simply need a way to make it interesting
So, is EDTA the food additive the same exact compound used as an anticoagulant in lavender top blood collection tubes?
The exact same, if less concentrated.
*Munches on almonds*
Something in the set gives me 90's vibes. Is it color grading, hard light, abstract art background? I wish I knew 😊
Its giving blue peter.... and art attack!
3:56
Utopian scholastic vibes?
EDTA makes the vampires explode in Blade 😌
We use also EDTA to measure water hardness.
That was well written
We use it to stabilize hair dye developer. Didnt know its used in food
To answer the question, If you told me that, I'd ask followup questions before leaping to any conclusions because I remember the old copypasta about "Ban Dihydrogen Monoxide"
And here I was thinking the only time I use EDTA is to disassociate human cells during cell culture passaging in the lab
Anyone else hear "EDTA" and think, 'oh, the lavender tube!'
3:06 Why is there even a stock photo out there of a woman chewing on a wrench? :D
Coordination compounds do NOT have to be organic or even carbon-containing. EDTA is an organic ligand but plenty of ligand are not. Eg, water and ammonia are very common ligands and can be the only ones (eg, any transition metal in aqueous or ammoniac solution)
😭 idky but "how would you feel if" is so funny
I like these videos because you don't assume knowledge, so you end up recapping relevant information that I vaguely remember from school.
It also seems like you try to address any controversies and consider different viewpoints and bits of information, rather than just picking a narrative and ignoring anything that doesn't neatly fit into that narrative. For example, in this video you included the discussion around health concerns and backed your points up with reasoning and nuance.
I was just wondering about EDTA the other day…
Wait, you're saying there's CHEMICALS in my FOOD!?
EDTA is a useful preservative that inhibits bacterial growth in food. But what does it do to the intestinal microbiome, the bacteria living inside us?
As far as we can tell, not too much. Largely because our body works hard to free up metals in digestion and also has its own metal-snatching proteins such as ferritin to grab valuable nutrients. In fact degradation of the compound is so through that as a treatment it must be given intravenously as only about 5% will pass to the blood if swallowed.
Isn't EDTA, Ethylenediamine 'TETRA'acetic acid, not 'TRI'? The video kept showing four acetic acid units except for the very first chemical structure, which was a triacetic acid. As a chemist, this kept bothering me throughout the video.
5:48 EDTA is an initialism, not an acronym.
If this was Austria in 1935, it wasn’t part of Germany for another three years
EDTA = ethylene diamine tetraacetic acid. Love the video, but would like to see this corrected in it.
Why does this make me think of popcorn
What about it’s effect as an anticoagulant? Is there a dangerous level of this additive that can act as anticoagulant in the blood after ingestion?
Edit
I guess the anticoagulant form is K2 edta, and the food kind is calcium bound edta , which isn’t an anticoagulant.
The stuff can mess with your blood in high enough amounts, but at that point it does so by binding the metals your nerves need to function, among other things. It's also notable that your body digests and binds the stuff, which is why when used as a treatment it's given intravenously, your gut only lets about 5% of what you swallow get into your blood.
I wouldn't ask where to ban it, I'd ask what on Earth is that supposed to be. At best I remember dihydrogenoxide and even that gets people starting from politicians confused.
I take magnesium for cramps and usually find it miraculous but I got a different brand recently comprising mostly magnesium chelate that I found useless. I guess this might explain why, if the effect of chelation is to make the metal ions physiologically unavailable. If that's true it seems a bit daft marketing it as a supplement. Maybe it still has some of the other purported benefits of magnesium, just not the cramp-stopping effect.
It depends on what it's for. Milk of magnesia and epsom salts contain 'naked' magnesium that will irritate gut muscles causing a laxative effect with very little absorbed by the body. Chelated metals will get into the bloodstream easily but sometimes will go right back out if your body isn't deficient and producing its own transport proteins for them. This can stop some therapeutic effects that rely on 'extra' metal since your body will take only what it deems necessary.
@@garethdean6382 That's very informative, thank you
Hey! I'm not hiding anywhere!
If people stop eating things with ingredients they can't pronounce, even the most educated people will starve to death. For whatever reason, if a word has over 3 syllables, people slow down and start doubting themselves unless it's a word they say on a regular basis! Saying this as someone with a master's degree in English: EVERYONE has issues with big words! Even your professors (if it's something outside their field😉)
@@bubbaoreilly7519 So cyanide's on the table then? (I'd say bleach but people actually drink that stuff.)
5:33 and there was a chance to tie back on the start of the video. Dihydrogenmonoxide.
POTASSIUM BROMATE!!!
Wow thats crazy
EDTA is good for killing vampires as well.
E-385 … pretty short name, I'd say.
But what does it have to do with popcorn?
0:48 the things you show are meant for drawing blood for testing reasons. maybe the iron supplement thing is true, idk that, but the thing shown and the thing talked about are very different, kinda confused me a second
Hi Stefan!
Talking about a compound discovered by a Jewish scientist in a video with a 6:13 duration… I doubt that it was on purpose, but well done regardless. IYKYK
T-not tetra? Swear I have seen EDTetraAcetate as buffer.
BAL, British Anti Lewisite= EDTA?
Huh neat
Chelating agents ftw
We seem to manage without it in the u.k.
I love the bait and switch thumbnail
I don't
Shoutout chelators
Clark Griswold invented this.
So, just sprinkle a little on swordfish and never worry about eating too much? (This is a joke btw)
Not a joke here, would that work?
@@zer0nix I would assume that technically yes, but then you are trading avoidable heavy metal poisoning for kidney problems and metal deficiencies, which will cause anemia and a slew of other issues. So probably not worth it in practice.
I also cheated at chemistry!
does that mean it's a ribeye? fine, fine, watch video first. fine.
Small error with the compound shown at the start of the video, the common food additive EDTA stands for the TETRA acetate, not tri.
I want to get dihydrogen monoxide banned from my food.
sssciiencee ruuuleess
5:47 "So tell your friends. That big old acronym on the ingredients list is helping you out and bending the rules of chemistry along the way."
Except that EDTA isn't an acronym; it's just an initialism. To be an acronym, it has to be read aloud as a word.
Quoting Google, an acronym is:
"An abbreviation formed from the initial letters of other words and pronounced as a word (e.g. ASCII, NASA )."
We don't say EDTA as "Ed Taw," but instead just spell out the individual letters. So, it isn't an acronym.✅