The photodegradation of aminopolycarboxylic acids (NTA, IDA) and aminopolyphosphonic acid (EDTMP) induced by complexation with iron(III) or coppeKH) is described. The phenomenon generally observed is a photoredox process giving rise to the reduced metal and the oxidized ligand. The quantum yields of the reaction can vary from 10−4 to 0.5 according to the ligand, the metal, the pH and the excitation wavelength. In a quasi general way, the complexation of these non absorbing compounds with iron(III) and copper(II) makes their photodegradation possible with solar light. The half lives of the pollutants when involved in such a process in the environment are estimated.