Efficacy of Octolig chromatography as a means of removal of aqueous antibiotics given to premature babies.

Reliable information indicated that a half-million prematurely born babies are routinely given antibiotics without evidence of infection. This study is based on a concern that such antibiotics might go into hospital waste systems and lead to antibiotic-resistant bacteria. We tested the removal of selected antibiotics by Octolig, a commercially available supported chelating agent using column chromatography. Five (Caffeine, Ampicillin, Furosemide, Dopamine, and Vancomycin) were selected for study. Ampicillin and Furosemide were quantitatively removed by column chromatography. Dopamine, Caffeine, and Vancomycin were failures. Failures are ascribed to inadequate pKa values (<5) for these three antibiotics.