What Is Activated Charcoal?
Activated charcoal is a black powder that’s odorless. It usually comes from plant sources like coal, wood chips, coconut shells, moss, or tree bark. Because it can neutralize some harmful substances in the body, medical professionals use it to treat certain kinds of drug overdose and emergency poisonings.
You can also find it in over-the-counter products, including water filters, toothpaste, dietary supplements, face wash, soap, and odor absorbers.
How Does Activated Charcoal Work?
Activated charcoal can bind to toxins through a process known as adsorption, where the surface of one particle sticks to another. This is different from absorption, where one substance mixes into another (like when rice or pasta soaks up water during cooking).
Here’s an example of how activated charcoal works:
If you or your child accidentally swallowed too much medicine, a doctor or nurse in the emergency room might give you water mixed with activated charcoal. The main goal is to "adsorb" the toxins before your stomach can absorb them. Because when the chemicals cling to the charcoal, they can’t go through your gut to the rest of your body.
In some cases, repeated doses of activated charcoal can also speed up your body’s ability to get rid of certain drugs even after you absorb them.
The tiny pores in activated charcoal can also trap some impurities in water, such as chlorine or other organic compounds that might cause bad taste. This is why activated charcoal is commonly used in water filters.
How is activated charcoal made?
The “activating” process involves scorching carbon-rich materials like wood or coconut shells. This turns the organic ingredients into powder with a lot of holes in it. These pores give the charcoal a big surface area to trap chemicals and other toxins.
Activated Charcoal Benefits
There are many claims about what activated charcoal can do. Most of them aren't supported by research.
Helps with poison control and overdose treatments
This is the only proven benefit of activated charcoal. It's on the World Health Organization’s list of essential medicines approved to treat poisoning. When mixed with water, the powder binds to chemicals upon contact, preventing toxins from getting into your stomach and then to the rest of your body.
Treatment with activated charcoal works best when you get it within the first hour of ingesting something toxic. A doctor or nurse may give you more than one dose if you’ve been severely poisoned or you overdose on a slow-moving or delayed-release drug.
Don’t try to treat a potential poisoning yourself. Call your local poison control center right away, and get to the emergency room.
When used along with other treatments, activated charcoal may preventcertain kinds of poisoning. But it’s not helpful to stop the absorption of the following:
- Corrosive chemicals such as lye or other alkalis
- Bases in many cleaning products
- Strong acids
- Gasoline or petroleum products
- Boric acid
- Cyanide
- Lithium
- Alcohol
- Iron tablets
- Other heavy metals like lead or silver
- Electrolytes like magnesium, potassium, or sodium
May help rid the body of toxins
You can buy over-the-counter activated charcoal products that claim to remove toxins from the body. It's not clear whether these products do what they claim. You shouldn’t use these products to treat poisoning. While daily use of OTC supplements might be safe, they aren’t medically recommended for health reasons.
May prevent gas and bloating
These over-the-counter pills aren’t the same as the form used to treat poisoning. Researchers have found mixed results on whether they do much to ease gas or bloating.
There’s some evidence that you may get better gas-relieving results if you take activated charcoal along with simethicone, an over-the-counter medicine that breaks down big gas bubbles into smaller ones. Talk to your doctor before you try this.
May help lower cholesterol levels
Some older studies showed that activated charcoal might improve your cholesterol by binding with it and keeping your body from absorbing it. This may work, but no recent research has been done to confirm the findings and it is not recommended by medical professionals.
May cure hangovers
Activated charcoal can’t absorb alcohol very well, and there’s no evidence that it can prevent or treat a hangover.
May help with teeth whitening
Many dental products include activated charcoal. Some companies claim these products can whiten teeth or promote better oral health, but there’s limited evidence that activated charcoal can brighten your smile or detoxify your gums and mouth.
Studies show that activated charcoal may whiten teeth a little bit but not as well as other commercial whitening products. And it may be more abrasive, which can scratch the surface of your teeth.
May improve skin health
Activated charcoal is a popular ingredient in many skin care products. Some companies claim it can treat acne, reduce dandruff, unclog your pores, or prevent signs of aging. But there’s no scientific evidence that activated charcoal can do these things.
Can activated charcoal be used for stomach bugs?
Activated charcoal isn’t commonly used to treat stomach problems caused by viruses, bacteria, or other germs. While there’s ongoing research in this area, there's not enough evidence to support it's effectiveness.
How long does it take for activated charcoal to work against poisoning?
Some studies show it can remove toxins from your system within half an hour. But once your stomach or intestines absorb toxic chemicals, activated charcoal can’t remove them. So to prevent poisoning, you’ll need to take activated charcoal as soon as possible (within the first 1-4 hours of exposure).
Health professionals use activated charcoal powder mixed with a liquid to treat poisoning. Your doctor may tell you to drink the solution or give it to you through a tube that goes into your stomach via your nose or mouth.
Who Should Not Use Activated Charcoal?
Accidentally inhaling bits of activated charcoal into your lungs (aspiration) can cause serious breathing problems or even death. Because of this risk, doctors don’t recommend using activated charcoal to treat someone with an unprotected airway. This includes people who are barely awake and might need a breathing tube.
You also shouldn't use activated charcoal if:
- You’re at risk of intestinal bleeding from another medical condition or surgery.
- You have a hole in your intestines (perforation).
- You’ve recently taken laxatives.
- You have slowed digestion.
- You have a bowel blockage.
You shouldn’t use activated charcoal if you have a toxin in your body that it can’t remove, such as metals, acids, alkalis, certain minerals, or alcohols.
Health experts do not recommend giving activated charcoal multiple times to treat poisonings in people who’ve taken drugs that can slow gut motility (like opioids or anticholinergics). If you have taken one of these drugs and need more than one dose of activated charcoal, your doctor should closely monitor you for any problems.
Activated Charcoal Dosages
There’s no dietary recommendation for activated charcoal because it’s not something your body needs to survive. But there are some common amounts that doctors use to treat people in case of emergency overdose or poisoning. These should only be given to you or your child by a health professional.
Single-dose activated charcoal to treat poisoning with powder mixed with water:
- Adults and teenagers: 25-100 grams
- Kids ages 1 to 12 years: 25-50 grams
- Babies up to 1 year:10-25 grams
Sometimes, doctors give kids or babies a dose of activated charcoal based on how much they weigh.
Multiple-dose activated charcoal treatment with powder mixed with water:
- Adults and teenagers: The first dose is 50 to 100 grams. After that, you might take 12.5 grams every hour, 25 grams every 2 hours, or 50 grams every 4 hours.
- Kids up to 13 years:The first dose is usually 10 to 25 grams. Then you’d measure the dose based on body weight. That’s typically around 1 to 2 grams per kilogram, or 0.45 to .91 gram per pound of body weight. Mix the charcoal powder with water and give that every 2-4 hours.
Never self-administer activated charcoal in the case of drug overdose or poisoning. Call 911 and get to the hospital right away.
What Are the Risks of Taking Activated Charcoal?
Activated charcoal is generally considered safe when given on a short-term basis by a health professional for an overdose or poisoning. But like all medications and supplements, it can come with risks, particularly if you use it for a long time without instructions from your doctor.
Activated charcoal side effects
You’re more likely to have long-term side effects if you take activated charcoal regularly, like if you take supplements to try to prevent gas.
When you take it bymouth or get it through a vein in your arm, you may get:
- Black stools
- Black tongue
- Vomiting ordiarrhea
- Constipation
Less commonly, activated charcoal may cause pain or swelling in your stomach. Tell your doctor if this happens. It could be a sign of a more serious problem that needs medical treatment, like a blockage in your intestines.
Don’t use activated charcoal with drugs used to treat constipation, this includes laxatives like sorbitol. This might raise your odds of dehydration, particularly if you use activated charcoal that already has sorbitol in it.
Activated charcoal drug interactions
Activated charcoal may reduce or prevent the absorption of certain drugs, such as:
- Acetaminophen
- Aspirin
- Antipsychotics and some antidepressants
- Birth control pills
- Digoxin
- Theophylline
The FDA does not regulatedietary supplements as closely as it does medications. Unlike drugmakers, the makers ofsupplements don’t have to show their products are safe or effective before selling them on the market.
Be sure to tell your doctor about any medications, vitamins, or supplements you're taking, even the natural ones. They can let you know about any potential side effects, risks, or interactions that might happen if you take them at the same time as activated charcoal.
Takeaways
Activated charcoal is a black, odorless powder. It’s used most often in hospitals to treat emergency drug overdoses and poisonings. You can also find it in common water filters and in over-the-counter products like toothpaste and face wash.
There’s not enough research to support the use of activated charcoal supplements for health reasons outside of emergency poisonings. But some companies claim their products can treat gas, bloating, diarrhea, hangovers, or skin conditions.
Go over the pros and cons of activated charcoal use with your doctor. Discuss how the product might interfere with any medications or other supplements you’re taking.
Activated Charcoal FAQs
Can you get activated charcoal naturally from foods?
No. Activated charcoal is not found naturally in foods. It’s a human-made dietary supplement. Some manufacturers may add it to products that you can eat or drink.
What should you avoid when taking activated charcoal?
Your doctor may suggest you avoid taking other medications or supplements within 2 hours of activated charcoal so that you can properly absorb them. Don’t take activated charcoal along with other medications, like the kind used to treat constipation.
What toxins does charcoal remove?
Activated charcoal in filters can remove some impurities from water. When you take it as a powder mixed with water, it can stop your stomach from absorbing certain drugs, chemicals, or herbs. But it’s not useful for removing acids, alkalis, alcohols, or heavy metals like iron, lithium, potassium, lead, and silver.
