Uses for Zeolites

Zeolites are natural and synthetic minerals composed of aluminum, silicon, oxygen and water. Their molecules have a three-dimensional, cagelike structure that can hold calcium, sodium, water and even small organic molecules. Zeolite powders can act like reusable systems to deliver these substances or absorb them for removal from your body or in chemical reactions. They are called chemical exchange agents or catalysts because they are not destroyed or consumed in the reactions they participate in.

Water Softeners

• Zeolites are often used in water softeners, according to Chemistry Explained. Calcium is the most common water "hardening" element. Calcium reacts with soap and forms a scum. The cavity inside each zeolite molecule can trap a calcium atom from the water by releasing a sodium atom. When all of the zeolite in your water softener has absorbed as much calcium as it can hold, it can be recharged by flushing brine, a saturated sodium chloride, or salt, solution through it. The salt-flush forces the calcium ions out and recharges the zeolite with sodium. Talk to your doctor about this method of water softening if you are on a salt-restricted diet as this can be a significant source of sodium in your softened water.

Nuclear Waste Removal

• Zeolites remove the radioactive metals cesium-137 and strontium-90 from wastewater at nuclear reactor sites, according to Chemistry Explained. Contaminated water passes through tanks packed with a natural zeolite called clinoptilolite, which liberates its sodium to absorb the dangerous metals. The zeolites become radioactive and can then be processed as dry, concentrated waste having produced large volumes of purified water.

Coal Scrubbing

• Burning high-sulfur coal, for instance at electrical power plants, produces sulfur dioxide, or SO2. This pollutant combines with water in the atmosphere and makes a dilute solution of sulfuric acid, a major cause of acid rain. Natural zeolites have been discovered to be the most effective of all known substances for absorbing sulfur dioxide from the smoke and waste gases emitted by coal-fired electric power generators.

Medical Zeolites

• Marijeta Kralj and Kresimir Pavelic, writing for the European Molecular Biology Organization in 2003, called zeolites a natural "ship-in-a-bottle" for their ability to deliver or take away molecules of medicine or wastes within the human body. The zeolite, clinoptilolite, is nontoxic and safe for ingestion. Research documents that clinoptilolite can deliver chemotherapeutic drugs in some anticancer therapy systems. Zeolites can also help detoxify and decontaminate foods with high levels of heavy metals, organic poisons and ammonia. When taken with food they can deliver antibacterial and antidiarrhoeal agents. Zeolites have also been found useful as filters in hemodialysis to aid in blood purification. If you have athlete's foot you may find effective treatment in powders based on micro-pulverized zeolite. Silver, a well-known antimicrobial agent, has been shown to be effective when delivered by silver-exchanging zeolites. Kralj and Pavelic's reports are based on positive, double-blind clinical studies.