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For the past year and a half, the department has been interested in the use of some of the new chelating compounds in the field of clinical dermatology. The most extensive experience with these has been with the local use on the scalp. Another phase of the study, under the direction of Dr. Cleveland Denton, has been with the use of these compounds in nickel and chromium hypersensitivity, and the third phase of the study is the use of disodium calcium ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid (EDTA) complex in routine wet-dressing techniques.
Ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid is one of the chelating compiunds whose function is to grab or grip various ions, especially the metallic ions. In regard to the use of soaps, these chelating agents briefly funtion as water softeners by combining not only with iron or other heavy metals, but aso with the calcium and magnesium ions of hard water. These chelates also maintain