What Is Activated Charcoal Used For?

Activated Charcoal is an odorless black substance made from common charcoal that has been exposed to heat. It is different from the charcoal bricks you use to grill food. Activated charcoal is sometimes called Activated Carbon. Activated charcoal is highly absorbent due to the little holes formed in it after the charcoal undergoes heating.

How to Make Activated Charcoal:

Things needed:

1. Dry wood
2. Metal pot
3. Two to three containers
4. An open space to carry out the process
5. Calcium chloride/bleach/lemon
6. Water

Steps:

1. Start by burning completely dry wood in a large metal pot. The pot’s lid must have a hole for ventilation. 
2. Cook it for 3-5 hours.
3. Allow it to cool for a while. You need to be patient with it.
4.  Transfer it to a cleaner container.
5. Wash the resulting charcoal in cool water to remove any debris left. 
6. Allow it to dry completely.
7. After you are sure it is dry enough, grind the charcoal into a fine powder.
8. Add a combination of calcium chloride and water. In the absence of calcium chloride, use bleach or lemon.
9. Finally, cook the mixture for three hours.

Your Activated charcoal is ready to be used.

Uses of Activated Charcoal:

• It is used for the purification of contaminated water.
• It also serves as a means for the removal of dangerous toxins from the body.
• It is also used to remove poisons from the body.
• Activated charcoal is used in the manufacture of several personal care products like lotions, oils, soaps, all kinds of toothpaste, and even cleansers. 
• It is also used as an ingredient for facial masks.

Benefits of Activated Charcoal:

1. A study has shown that activated charcoal removes impurities from the skin because of its absorbent nature.
2. Activated charcoal also reduces acne breakouts by removing bacteria and other impurities from the skin pores.
3. It gives the skin a healthy glow by exfoliating dead skin cells and absorbing excess oil on the skin.
4. Another benefit of activated charcoal is the treatment of body rashes.
5. It is also beneficial for air purification as it purifies the air from pollution.
6. Activated charcoal serves as a natural means of water filtration and purification. 
7. It is also used as a major ingredient for making dozens of teeth-whitening products, hence improving one’s oral health.
8. Activated charcoal has been discovered to have a string of antiviral, antibacterial, antifungal, and detoxifying agents in its constituents.
9. Because it can absorb the smell and harmful gases, Activated Charcoal is widely used as an underarm, refrigerator, and even shoe deodorant.
10. It also aids in the treatment of various skin infections.

Activated Charcoal is used to help clear lots of toxins, chemicals, and even bacteria. However, there are some of these things that it can't be effective on. They are:

• Alcohols
• Lye
• Iron
• Lithium
• Oral drugs
• Birth control pills
• Petroleum products, such as fuel oil and gasoline
• Cleaning products   

Precautions:

Although Activated charcoal has been termed generally safe, there are still a few safety precautions one needs to take when dealing with it. They are:

1. Keep it away from your eyes.
2. When using it on the skin, ensure you do not overdo it. Once or twice a week is good enough as it may dry out your skin.
3. After you apply activated charcoal and you start to react with itching, redness, swelling of the skin or burning, please detach from using it with immediate effect. Your body may be allergic to some of its components.

How do I find Activated Charcoal? :

Activated Charcoal is available in both online and offline stores in pills and powder form. You can find it on Amazon, Jumia, Jiji, and even Google express. It's also sold in pharmacies and drug stores.

If you’d like to try and use Activated Charcoal, please do so under the strict supervision of your medical practitioner especially if you've been taking other medications during that period.

Have you used Activated Charcoal before? If yes, how has it worked for you? Was there a negative impact or a positive impact? Kindly share your experience with us in the comments section.