Activated Charcoal or active carbon is a form of carbon which has been processed from source materials like peat, petroleum pitch, wood, coal, coir, lignite, and nutshells. Processing involves either physical reactivation or chemical activation which gives the charcoal a form that is extremely porous, thus making it to have a very large surface area available for adsorption or chemical reactions.
The charcoal becomes “activated” when acid plus steam at a very high temperature is added to one of the source materials listed above. This oxidative process further erodes the charcoal’s internal surfaces, thus increasing its adsorption capacity by creating an internal network of even smaller pores rendering it two to three times as effective as regular charcoal. Putting this in perspective, one standard 50-gram dose of activated charcoal has the surface area of 10 football fields.
One of the major areas of use of activated charcoal in medicine is in treating poisoning or overdose following oral ingestion. While it is useful in acute poisoning, it is not effective in long term accumulation of toxins such as toxic herbicides. In effect, activated charcoal is used as an emergency decontaminant in the gastrointestinal (GI) tract, which includes the stomach and intestines, and is considered to be the most effective single agent available for eliminating ingested poisons. It is used after a person swallows or absorbs almost any toxic drug or chemical and most times eliminates the need of a stomach washout (gastric lavage), although the two can be combined where the patient gets to the hospital within 30 minutes after ingestion of the drug or chemical. Gastric lavage is not very useful if the time lapse between ingestion and getting to hospital exceeds 30 to 45 minutes. Use of activated charcoal alone is to be preferred in such cases and it is estimated to reduce absorption of poisonous substances by up to 60%. It is to be noted that gastric lavage does not have effects that reach beyond the stomach, unlike activated charcoal which works through the entire length of the stomach, small, and large intestines (GI tract). It is given orally with water.
Activated charcoal exerts its effects by adsorption, which is a process whereby atoms and molecules move from a bulk phase (such as solid, liquid or gas) onto a solid or liquid surface. The toxic substances attaches to the charcoal surface and since no digestion takes place; nor is it absorbed into the bloodstream, it stays in the G.I. tract and the toxins are eliminated when the person passes feces. Because of this, often times, it is combined with sorbitol (a substance that stimulates the bowels to move, like a laxative) in order to shorten the amount of time it uses to move through the GI tract and reduce the possibility of constipation. However, to avoid complications, sorbitol is not given with every dose of activated charcoal.
Other uses of activated charcoal include:-
- Use in household water carbon filters to purify drinking water and make it potable. In this respect, it is often combined with silver which act as an excellent antibacterial agent preventing bacteria from multiplying in the filter. It also decomposes toxic halo-organic compounds such as pesticides into non-toxic organic products, further purifying the water and making it more potable.
- As odor eliminator in the home, especially for fridges, fridge-freezers, kitchen cabinets etc.
- It is used to relieve flatulence, stop diarrhea in cancer patients undergoing treatments with irinotecan and is good in relieving various “stomach troubles” in general.
- It can be mixed with some facial cream preparations to make a pore rich active carbon exfoliating masque for facial cleansing and general body skin applications.
- It can be used to relieve the pains of stings, insect bites, bruises, and can be made into a poultice and applied to bruises and swellings on the body.
- There is some evidence of its effectiveness as a treatment for irritable bowel syndrome (IBS). It is also used for bowel preparation by reducing intestinal gas content before abdominal radiography to visualize bile, pancreatic and renal stones.
- A type of activated charcoal biscuits is marketed as a pet care product.
In conclusion, activated charcoal is a very handy first-aid medication every family should have in its first-aid box.
Author: Ola Suyee
