Chelating agents bind to metal ions, and they come in a variety of forms and have pharmacologic and non-pharmacologic purposes. In cosmetics, these are used to help preserve the formula better by neutralizing metal ions (which can breakdown active ingredients and destabilize the overall formula).

Common chelating agents often have "EDTA" in their name and have a prefix that denotes the specific chemical structure of the chelating agent, and will thus have little differences between the functionality of differing chelating agents.