Provides an overview of the chemistry of four common chelating agents, EDTA (ethylene diamine tetraacetic acid), DPTA (diethylene triamine pentaacetic acid), NTA (nitrilotriacetic acid), and HEDTA (N(hydroxyethyl)ethylene diamine triacetic acid), followed by sections on the selection of an appropriate chelating agent for conservation purposes and the application of chelating agents to paper conservation. This last section deals primarily with EDTA and includes information on the removal of iron from paper, use of EDTA in bleaching procedures, as well as inclusion of chelating agents in soap and detergent solutions.