Incineration fly ash needs to be pretreated before landfill disposal because of hazardous contaminants such as heavy metals. The structural features of chelating agents and the mechanisms of stabilizing heavy metals were described in this paper. The synthesis and application of two main kinds of chelating agents were reviewed and their potential application to stabilization of heavy metals contained in incineration fly ash was evaluated. Obstacles to using chelating agents for stabilizing incineration fly a...