Hacker News Reader

I was going to say... EDTA is also suspected to be the primary active ingredient in Evapo-Rust: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xf3ma1XFt9Y

View on HN

So? That doesn't mean anything. Water is an ingredient in both, too.

EDTA is used in food, medicine, and dentistry. It's ingested, inhaled, and injected into people every day.[1]

In the video you linked Adam Savage reads out the safety warnings from the Evapo-Rust bottle ("non-toxic, biodegradable, safe on the skin and eyes") and from the Evapo-Rust SDS[2] it seems like a pretty darn safe product.

[1]https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ethylenediaminetetraacetic_aci...

[2]https://evapo-rust.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/08/Evapo-Rust...

Acids such as citric acid are also very safe, but definitely not in the context of brushing teeth as they dissolve enamel. There simply isn't enough safety data _in that context_ for dentists to start recommending EDTA vs regular fluoride toothpaste. In one in vitro study I found, EDTA is shown to cause erosion https://www.medigraphic.com/pdfs/odon/uo-2012/uoi121b.pdf so I'd say more studies are required.

Reply on news.ycombinator.com