EDTA Buffer 0.5 mol/l, pH 8.0, is a laboratory chemical, for the requirements of a wide variety of biological and biochemical experiments. As a strong chelating agent, EDTA (ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid) immobilizes metal ions that serve as cofactors for a variety of enzymes, including DNases. Therefore, the use of this buffer effectively inhibits enzymatic activities that could lead to degradation of DNA or RNA. This makes it particularly valuable for DNA extraction and purification protocols.

With a pH of 8.0, the buffer was designed for optimal stability and functionality under conditions commonly encountered in molecular biology. In addition, the buffer can serve as protection against heavy metal contamination in cell culture media.

The EDTA buffer has a molarity of 0.5 mol/l and an osmolarity of 1.5 osmol/L, due to the dissociation of EDTA into two sodium ions and one EDTA anion. The ability of the buffer to stabilize pH by chelating metal ions replaces the traditional buffering capacity.