Many attempts have been made to find similarly colored natural dyes that are as stable as brilliant blue FCF.

[13] Due to its ability to retain color for long periods of time, brilliant blue FCF outperforms other dye tracers.

Brilliant blue FCF is attracted to and sorbed in acidic soils due to its large size and ionic charge.

Soil composition and flow velocity also affect the level of sorption of brilliant blue FCF.

The dye turns back to blue once it is reoxidized by swirling the solution, incorporating oxygen from the air as an oxidizing agent.

[15] When applied to the tongue or to shaven skin, brilliant blue FCF can be absorbed directly into the bloodstream.

[17] For similar reasons, brilliant blue FCF is also being utilized in hemostatic medical devices, most notably the Hemopatch—designed to be placed on bleeding tissues and coagulate the blood.

[18] Brilliant blue FCF is an approved food colorant and pharmacologically inactive substance for drug formulations in the EU and the United States.

In a 1979 clinical trial of patients with perennial asthma, brilliant blue FCF, tested alongside two other non-azobenzene dyes (Erythrosine & Indigotin), was found to have no effect on pulmonary function in 42 of 43 participants.

However, OxATP has toxic side effects and must be injected directly into the spinal cord; in searching for alternatives they noted that brilliant blue FCF has a similar structure.

[25] Scientists are performing studies to better understand the effects of brilliant blue FCF during vein graft explantation.

Brilliant blue FCF hinders the purinergic receptors, limiting cell proliferation that may lead to intimal hyperplasia.

It was found that brilliant blue FCF had a positive impact in limiting the development of intimal hyperplasia following a vein graft procedure.