Finely divided particles of phospholipids are used to form controlled drug delivery systems called liposomes. Conventional physicochemical methods for preparing these microparticles are hampered by a major drawback-the use of organic solvents that remain at few but inhibitory concentration in the final product. This study aimed to propose an alternative method for preparing microparticles of phospholipids starting from soy lecithin-the process had to be free of solvent or at least, the solvent had to be nontoxic. Two micronization techniques based on the use of supercritical carbon dioxide were investigated: the RESS and the SAS processes. The RESS process failed to separate the particles formed from the cosolvent. Performing the SAS process with ethanol as auxiliary solvent, enabled fine particles to form with size ranging from 1 to 40 mum. Particles were spherical and partly agglomerated and seemed to be free of solvent as shown by preliminary infrared analysis. (C) 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.