Chapter 3: Builders and water softeners · Part 4: Chelating agents
MGDA
- Contaminant risk
The worst fact: it's sold as a green replacement for phosphates and EDTA, but according to the maker's patents it's made by reacting alanine with formaldehyde and hydrogen cyanide. NTA, the possible carcinogen above, forms as a by-product; the maker's patent targets under 0.1% NTA in a 40% MGDA solution.
Why brands use it: it's a strong chelating agent that breaks down readily.
Take care if: no official warning found. Most company reports don't classify it as hazardous.
Comes from: according to the maker's patents, alanine, formaldehyde and hydrogen cyanide. Australia classes formaldehyde as "May cause cancer". That doesn't mean it's in the product, but it's not a great starting point for something you clean with.
No chemistry reference outside the maker's patents states the route, so this book gives no 🛢 badge.
Myth check: "MGDA is plant-based": no source supports it. The maker's patent says the usual alanine is made from acetaldehyde, hydrogen cyanide and ammonia.
Contaminants: NTA. The EU Ecolabel allows it only under 0.2% in the raw material and 0.1% in the finished product. It's unlikely to matter in a well-made product, but it's a factor you can't see on the label.
Fair to say: it breaks down readily in standard tests, unlike EDTA, and the US Safer Choice program gives it a green circle.
Correct as of November 2026. What the badges mean
Sources
- Safe Work Australia. Hazardous Chemical Information System (HCIS): classifications for each chemical, and for formaldehyde.
- European Union. Regulation (EU) 259/2012 (phosphates in detergents); Detergents Regulation (EC) 648/2004, Annex VII; Regulation (EU) 2023/2055 (microplastics); EU Ecolabel decisions 2017/1216 and 2017/1218.
- BASF SE. US patents 5,849,950 and 8,802,894 (MGDA). Akzo Nobel / Nouryon. US patent 8,399,705 (GLDA). Nouryon, Dissolvine GL Premium launch (2023).
The full source list is at the end of Chapter 3.