Dithizone is used as an indicator for minute amounts of lead. It acts as a chelating agent for heavy metal poisoning. As a ligand, it forms complexes with metals like zinc, lead and mercury. Further, it is used to assess the purity of human pancreatic islet preparations, which is used for transplantation in patients with type 1 diabetes. In addition to this, it is used as a titrant in the quantitative determination of heavy metals.
