Removal of toxic preservatives in pharmaceutical preparations of insulin by the use of ultra-stable zeolite Y

Ultra-stable zeolite Y and mordenite with pore sizes of 0.75 and 0.70 nm, respectively, showed the capacity to bind phenol and m-cresol rapidly. Phenol and m-cresol are used as preservatives in pharmaceutical preparations for humans and, with the use of a 15 mg filter of ultra-stable zeolite Y, 98 % of the preservative in a 200 l pharmaceutical insulin preparation, Actrapid®, was removed after 5 s of passage through the filter. The insulin content in the filtrate was not disminished. © Rapid Science Ltd. 1998