Saccharin sodium as a potential sweetener for antidotal charcoal

Abstract

This study explored if saccharin sodium, as a sweetener in activated charcoal formulations, would be sufficiently available to provide sweetness while not severely reducing charcoal's adsorption capacity. In vitro tests showed that charcoal takes up 40wt% of saccharin at a 1 g/liter concentration of saccharin in the residual fluid; 29.3wt% at 0.1 g/liter. A saccharin level of 0.1 g/g of charcoal in a carboxymethylcellulose formulation gave enough residual flavor to be appealing. Sodium salicylate, 1 g/liter and 10 g/liter, was used to test whether the 0.1 g/g level of saccharin would interfere with charcoal's ability to adsorb a typical drug. By use of colorimetric assay, it was shown that a 2 g charcoal per gram of salicylate (initial salicylate concentration of 1 g/liter), the extent of drug adsorption was reduced from 70% to 64%, at a 10 g/liter initial concentration, the reduction was 87% to 82%. Under the conditions tested, the antidotal mixture should be pleasantly sweet at a saccharin level of 1 g/10g charcoal, and little effect would be produced on the adsorption of sodium salicylate and other drugs that are well adsorbed by charcoal.