What are the Limitations of Activated Charcoal?

Activated charcoal, also referred to as activated carbon, is a processed product that has been made porous so as to be able to take in certain gases or cause chemical reactions. For medical purposes, activated charcoal is used to treat certain types of poison in emergency situations, but the product does have limitations that could lead to using other products or taking a different treatment route.

Interactions

• Certain drugs and products do not interact well with activated charcoal. Patients who are taking immunosuppressant drugs like mycophenolate mofetil and mycophenolic acid should not take activated charcoal because it does not interact well with those medications. Activated charcoal may interact poorly with certain types of food, alcohol and tobacco, and it is best to discuss your use of these when talking with a doctor about activated charcoal.

Medical Problems

• Activated charcoal may exacerbate certain pre-existing conditions. It is best to avoid activated charcoal in patients with recent surgery, slow digestion, dehydration, a hole in the intestine, decreased alertness, an intestinal blockage or intestinal bleeding. Alternative medications should be used if possible when a patient has any of these conditions.

Certain Chemicals

• While there are certain chemicals that activated charcoal is effective against, there are multiple compounds that activated charcoal should not be used with. Some of these chemicals include strong acids, boric acid, lithium, alkalis (like lye) or alcohols. Another group of chemicals activated charcoal will not affect are petroleum products like paint thinner, coal oil, fuel oil, cleaning fluid, kerosene and gasoline. Activated charcoal does not absorb these chemicals and, as a result, a different treatment is needed.

Geriatric Patients

• Activated charcoal has not been extensively tested in older patients and, as a result, there may be certain differences in side effects. Also, elderly patients who have slow digestion may develop constipation from the use of more than one dose of activated charcoal. However, there is no study stating that activated charcoal does not work in elderly patients. It is suggested that elderly patients only take the medication under direct supervision.

Proof

• Multiple benefits have been seen with the use of activated charcoals, but there have been very few studies on larger groups to determine more positive and negative effects. There is very little experimental proof in experiments where more than 10 people were tested. To be absolutely certain that activated charcoal works, it is important that there be more studies with randomized controls in the future.