chelation

/kiˈleɪʃən/
noun
  1. A medical treatment that uses special chemicals to remove heavy metals from the body.
    • After several rounds of chelation, the levels of mercury in his body dropped significantly.
    • Chelation is sometimes used to treat people who have too much iron in their blood.
    • The doctor recommended chelation therapy for the patient with lead poisoning.
  2. A chemical process in which a molecule binds tightly to a metal ion, forming a stable ring-like structure.
    • Chemists study chelation to understand how certain drugs interact with metals in the body.
    • The chelation of calcium ions is important in many biological processes.
    • In chelation, the metal ion is held in a claw-like grip by the surrounding molecules.
What does "chelation" mean? | whatsthatwordmean | whatsthatwordmean