How Does Activated Charcoal Actually Work?
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- čas přidán 7. 09. 2024
- You may have seen this ingredient in supplements, smoothies, or medicine-but what does it means for charcoal to be "activated" and is it really as powerful as it sounds? Michael Aranda unpacks the science of what it does for our bodies and how it works in this new episode of SciShow!
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I'm glad you explained the difference between Adsorbent and Absorbent.
Unlike many videos on CZcams, this one is Ad-friendly.
Master Therion I can't wait for the CZcams Rewind have the yellow demonetize symbol
I aspire to reach your level of punning one day, Master. I am not worthy.
I've always liked your comments IceMetalPunk. You've been a prolific commenter longer than I have. If anything, I've learned from you ^_^
🤪
You are literally everywhere
For centuries in India, the husk from rice was burnt into charcoal, mixed with Rock salt and occasionally a hint of clove oil or black pepper was used as tooth paste. This practice is still followed in rural parts of southern India and has quite definitive results.
I wonder if you could go back in time and tell people to use activated charcoal for water filtration how many lives you would save. Not just from reducing waterborne pathogens but also having clean water for medicine.
Activated charcoal can also mess with certain medications, so if you're on anti-depressants or hormonal birth control, don't eat charcoal.
Yelilow but I want to put it on my Instagram
It's a necessary risk.
Yelilow got it thanks!
But can I just eat charcoal for shits and giggles?
also it has lots of hydro carbons and they cause cancer
As someone who has spent two years producing activated charcoal on an industrial level, I would be remiss in not checking a fact or two.First, the biomass is not treated with oxygen as it is pyrolized. An inert atmosphere is required for the pyrolysis reaction to be effective. If oxygen is allowed into the reactor, the biomass does not char, but burn; and yield a product with a high ash content (and a lower iodine adsorption number as a result.)Generally, a facility will fill the reactor with argon or nitrogen in order to make the atmosphere non-reactive (apparently carbon monoxide can work too, but I have my doubts.)Also, activated carbon does whiten teeth. Not because of its adsorbative properties, but for its abrasive nature (i have seen powdered carbon eat through steel as it is piped through low pressure pipes on a weekly basis) if tou rub it on yout teeth, it will ablate tartar and enamel off.Primary consumption of PAC in the US is in the wastewater treatment field, adsorption of poisons and skimming the surface of the carbon allows the discharge of the water back into our waterways.Hope this helps.
Well, CO is mildly reducing so I'd expect it to work fine. By the way, not sure why but I always thought the binding of PAC to organic molecules happened through chemisorption.
I think he said oxygen was introduced during activation of charcoal, not during production.
Thanks so much for this information, it's great to hear something from an expert.
Dean, please send me an e-mail.
dsamboulamine@gmail.com
it sounds with the prospect of iodine that you had mentioned that is would be a good idea to consume activated charcoal one way or another during chemotherapy radiation treatment because people don't die from cancer they die from radiation sickness
Activated Charcoal is one of those things that we're very fortunate to have.
Hi,please accept Jesus as your Lord and Saviour with your mouth and believe He died and rose again in your heart,turn away from swearing,over eating,lying,selfish ambitions,lust,movies,video games,hate,gossip,secular music,drugs,smoking,drinking,love of money qnd stuff,pride,magic,idolatry, and all that kind of stuff,dedicate yourself to God fully,obey Him and trust in Him and Jesus
@@lb7625 Yeah, I did that, and I needed activated charcoal afterward.
@@lb7625 God bless!!
LB- Amen.
I shall learn by doing to see the benefits ?
Cause maybe,
You're gonna be the one who saves me
And after all
You're my Van Der Waal
ratguy101 because maybe
Not because baby
Thanj
😂😂😂
It’s “you’re gonna be the one that saves me” mate.
She shouldn’t have won
If It helps with hangovers it doesn't necessarily 'adsorb' alcohol, it probably adsorbs the aldehydes from the alcohol metabolism...
One of the biggest advantages of activated charcoal I've personally experienced is in it's application as cabin air filters in cars. Bosch makes one, and it significantly reduces exhaust gases many types of foul smells from the outside environment while commuting especially here in India.
I could see that, yeah. I mean, odor comes from volatile (and often large and complex) molecules, and I don't see why those couldn't be trapped like some poisons.
oh that is interesting!
We have that stuff in gas mask filters here in Germany.
It's great at things like that, it's used in my kitty litter tray (we have an enclosed one). No more poop smells :D
I've seen a lot of companies produce them, but Bosch seems to be the only HEPA filter readily available.
Whitening teeth with charcoal has been used in Ghana as a traditional means of cleaning the teeth for centuries. I used some together with plantain sticks anytime we visited the village in the early 90s. It works very well
When I hear vdw forces all I can think about is when I asked my high school chemistry teacher for help understanding the differences between the forces we learned about and she said "if you don't know I can't help you" so that was a fun time of my life
Official-Mashed-Potatoes ugh, what a sad excuse for a teacher
Kudos on the Princess Bride reference!
Adilson Oliveira I noticed that too, I was just about to comment about it
I challenge you to a battle of wits
Hi,please accept Jesus as your Lord and Saviour with your mouth and believe He died and rose again in your heart,turn away from swearing,over eating,lying,selfish ambitions,lust,movies,video games,hate,gossip,secular music,drugs,smoking,drinking,love of money qnd stuff,pride,magic,idolatry, and all that kind of stuff,dedicate yourself to God fully,obey Him and trust in Him and Jesus
Activated charcoal is used for inline odor control filters. It works surprisingly well, there is almost no odor once filtered.
I had really smelly feet and it made by life miserable but upon discovery of charcoal impregnated soles (odoureaters) my life changed dramatically. Since then I have used charcoal in many ways including poultice for joint pains and akin lesions. Worth trying.
I use this stuff in the filters for my home aquariums.
Keeps the water very clean.
im an adventist and i feel like some of our cultural health practices r being discovered by more non sda average citizens, like plant-based food and taking activated charcoal. not saying activated charcoal is adventist, but it's what my family has always used in certain situations. it really helped one of my church members when he got bad food poisoning in a foreign country. my church always knew about it but 10 years ago, not many people outside my church/family did
And what about that activated charcoal can help with stomaaches,which it can. Have helped hundreads of times throughout life. I dunno if it reduced gas,but when you have hurting stomach,with an watery poop xD ,it always stabilise poop and make it normal. Havent failed a single time. Actualy that was the only benefit i knew what activated charcoal do,but clearly helping against poisons aswell. Good to know.
I would love to see one of these for cbd oil and coconut oil.
I second cbd for being a wonder drug on death spiral mental loops
Coconut oil also has some, er... nsfw uses. Also makes some seriously delicious grilled veggies... but maybe keep two seperate containers for those.
@@AtarahDerek to
Hi
Thanks for posting this. Please clarify something that has puzzled me about (activated) charcoal. If it adsorbs so much, how does one know the ingredients that can be included in cosmetic preparations, to ensure that ingredient does not lose its effectiveness, like soap, the superfat of soaps, essential oils of the soap, etc. I have heard about differently charged substances but do not know how to identify the charge of different items.
Activated charcoal for iocaine? Inconceivable!
TO THE TOP!
That word, you keep using it... I do not think that it means what you think it means.
This is the comment I have been waiting for.
Yay! I wasn't the only one!
Activated charcoal for IODINE.
Iodine is used to measure the performance of activated charcoal...
Why are burnt foods considered carcinogenic while activated charcoal is considered safe?
The carcinogenic compound in burnt foods is acrylamide, which you get from heating starch. Since you don't usually make charcoal out of potatoes or wheat, it's not an issue there.
Heads Full Of Eyeballs thanks for the clarification
the carcinogenic effect was only noted as an "elevated risk" and thats only in people with the blood type A positive...that may be the most distorted study ever...i wouldnt change my lifestyle without actually reading the study first, i have and im A positive blood type and i decided the risk is so minimal i rarely make any accommodations...i personally believe the study was flawed and could never be repeated because it was a very small sample size. imo
Kathryn Mercier good question, wondering that myself. Perhaps it’s best to avoid activated charcoal unless your life depends on it to bind to a poison you drank?
I think the studies on activated charcoal aren't conclusive yet so I'd stay away from ingesting it just in case. It has become a fad to swallow charcoal pills much too quickly for us to understand the long term effects. Though 100% safe for cleaning teeth and for face masks.
Man
I'd listen to him talk about science all the time, his voice is soothing.
It definitely works for whitening your teeth. In some cases, you can see it from the first application. Although no scientific, there are many CZcams videos of people experimenting with it and getting positive results, I'm talking about teeth whitening.
Science pet peeve: I would appreciate if the script writers better differentiated between "No evidence" as in no one has researched it, or "no evidence" as in studies were done and came up negative. I think both were mentioned in the context of "no evidence" in the video which made the term ambiguous. Otherwise, love the videos, keep it up!
Very good points and well made!
Well for me it is incredible. I feel like I have the flu pretty much 25/7 bad yeast digestion issues and I am very sensitive to mold! Well I started the charcoal a few months back and what a difference for me. I could not go to the hallway where mold is without itching and headache instantly and after a few rounds of charcoal no issues at all. I find to it has improved my digestion greatly. Something else I have noticed is for many years I was getting hair testing done which always would show my barium was off the scales high. It would not move or come down at all for over 10 years and I recently did another hair test which showed the barium was over halfway down. I was pleasantly surprised! Look I don't know for sure but I really do see and feel a difference with it. :)
Very interesting, concisely explained, thank you! Wow very speedy talker yet still easy to follow and understand. Awesome.
Just because research hasn't done on something, doesn't mean it doesn't work. The researches just haven't proved or disproved it yet. Many things have been working for thousands of years before some researcher decided to prove or disprove it. And research is often skewed.
I've also heard that it makes a great air filter Either absorbing odors from a Rooms air or as part of an air filtration system
Activate my almonds
I don't care if my charcoal is activated, but my almonds better be!
* *crickets* *
Soooo how you want me to do it just rub or...
69 likes
where are my homemade coconuts and emu meatballs, good sir?
Thank you for explaining the mechanism of action, but I would've also liked to know what makes it "activated". What's unactivated charcoal?
Edit: The interwebs says "activation" means it's made more porous, so, new question: why do we call it "activated" instead of "porous"?
I love the fact that when people do research to answer a question, it leads to even more questions. This is exactly what the scientific method should invoke. You are a smart individual!
Works great if you've got the runs. And while it might be a case of false causality, whenever i feel like i ate something dodgy i take a coupe of tablets and so far it seems to work.
I've heard that if you're on antidepressants (or medication in general), you should avoid consuming charcoal because it can adsorb them. Is this true?
had food poisoning today, was in sheer pain. took 2 pills of activated charcoal, woke up fine.
It really does work!!
ONE WAY TO FIND MORE ABOUT ACTIVATED CHARCOAL WOULD BE TO TRY IT.
I have! It really works fast for an upset stomach.
Interesting how I was just thinking about it today when I used this product made of "activated charcoal and black sugar."
I brush with it sometimes and it does seem to make a significant difference, but only up to a point. Full disclosure I am a smoker so it may only be helping with the nicotine/tar staining. After just a few brushings I noticed a significant improvement in the shade of my teeth. However after that results either slowed down a great deal or stoped. I am not plugging any brand here I used a big ol bag of generic activated charcoal. It's quite cheep so I recomend trying it if your a smoker or have other habbits resulting in stained teeth. It is not going to make them actor calibre white but in my experiance at least made a big difference for little cost.
Older viewers probably first heard the term "activated charcoal" in TV commercials for Tareyton cigarettes. The section of activated charcoal in their filters was their big gimmick/selling point.
Merry Christmas Eve Eve!!!
Hey pagan.. Are you dressing like a krampus this year?
Shadow Blazer374 so I'm not the only one that says that
JNCressey I know an ev. wow autocorrect hates that name.
Happy Christmas and merry new year!
There may not have been studies yet, but I can attest to its whitening abilities for teeth. My teenagers and I all brush with activated charcoal powder occasionally because it does dramatically whiten our teeth.
As for using it to detox-- When people want to take it regularly I also remind them that it can bind with other things in your stomach that you might not want to remove, like vitamins and needed medications too.
This is exactly why I use it. I have chronic hypervitaminosis A, and if I do not take activated charcoal twice daily, I feel the horrible negative side effects of retinoic acid leaving my liver via the bile. The charcoal binds it, and removes it safely in the gut. One day, hopefully I will not need to take it any longer.
As this woman experienced when healing her psoriasis and alopecia with activated charcoal, it can take years of using it twice daily to protect the gut from reabsorbing the toxic bile before the liver has adequately cleared out stored toxicities:
czcams.com/video/JLt-8uF1bkY/video.html
Oh, I should also add that people who have ostomy bags, take charcoal internally as a stool deodorizer. Many farm animals are fed charcoal as a feed additive to protect them from mycotoxins.
So far I haven't found evidence it binds with minerals in the gut, but certain vitamins and medications, yes, it will. I take my vitamins in the middle of the day, away from when I take charcoal.
For those further confused remember this:
Absorption is like eating a custard pie
Adsorption is like being a victim of slapstick comedy
Spearka i don’t know what slapstick comedy is ☹️
aka pie to the face
That actually makes more sense then it should
Trollo lolol thanks
This was superb. Concise and informative. 11/10
You see now, this dude explains stuff like he is explaining it to ME (the one who landed on his video) and not my mom or dog. He is smart and I subscribed.
I only learned a few years ago that you can swallow active charcoal. Previously I only knew it as a filter in gas masks and joints.
Assuming the carbon could adsorb alcohol.. Wont work for hangover when the alcohol has already left the digestive tract. If and only if it adsorbs alcohol, it may prevent that amount of alcohol from entering your blood stream but food in general might be just as good or better.
What about activated charcoal in skin care ? I see it all the time, does it actually help my skin
Will try activated charcoal help firm up stools sometimes when it's too loose. However, probably not good to take all the time because it can disrupt nutrition absorption.
It's odour absorption quality is magical. No doubt.
I can listen to u narrate anything all day
Yay thank you for answering my question!!! Follow up question. Do products meant for acne that use activated charcoal, really work or is it another case of more research needed? ie. Does it really help to remove dirt and oil? Again thanks!
Stop watching infomercials and get some sleep. Tv lies.
Do you have acne? Do you need advice for acne?
Nah just an honest question, I see people on FB and snap chat all the time with those face masks and I just want to know if they work or if they are just rubbing carbon on their face for no reason.
From a novice point of view, charcoal can be a good exfoliant, and it's logical to assume it could bind to the oils on your skin. If it is better than washing your face with soap.. eh I'd have to let someone else answer that. I'd rather have a charcoal and sugar scrub than all these salicylic acid acne treatments.
comparing taking activated charcoal to eating a black burger bun is quite silly, especially after it was explained that it's not just burnt carbon, but carbon that then is exposed to heat or acid. otherwise, this is a wonderfully informative video. thank you!
In Medical Missions in Yolanda Typhoon victims (Philippines) thousands of lives saved😁thank you
easy. all you need to do is go to the website, click on "Purchase License", login to paypal, and enter the activation code they give you.
1:55 - They were both poisoned. I've developed an immunity to activated charcoal power.
Inconceiveable!
- CZcams - What is Activated Charcoal? BY John Dinsley, of Charcoal House LLC - czcams.com/video/1UPxYVemno8/video.html
I really enjoyed how informative this video was for me thank you
For once I arrived at SciShow not because they popped up, but because I asked exactly the title of this video.
My training has always been that activated carbon is normal carbon that’s been superheated which converts C+ to C++
and thereby it’s a magnet for any chemical with an overall negative charge
such as alcohol otherwise known as ethanol…..
Happy to stand corrected but that’s what I was taught
Square meters! Finally you are not talking of body parts, very good!
I keep seeing the Exon-Mobile algae bio fuel ad. I live in Iowa where we are all but surrounded by bio fuel plants already pumping out billions of gallons of grain based fuels. We also have a few abandoned plants who's supposed purpose was to make biomass fuels out of the leftover stalks from grain production, but their real purpose was to burn up green energy grant money on projects that didn't work much like the premise of the film and play "The Producers". Algae bio fuels are the exact same kind of project. The reason that a huge polluting oil company backs this stuff is because it makes them look like they are trying to be green and steals grant money away from green energy projects that might actually work and reduce the country's dependence on their oil.
This video is first uploaded I thought they were talking about an activated carbon not activated charcoal I'm glad I watched the video
Thanks dear ❤
Update? Would love to hear more!
he's doing it again, when he speaks he always turns his head to his left and then turns his eyes to the right like a flounder
Idk but it sure helps with my acne.
I have odd scent in my body oil, it smells like baby vomit 🤢 but when I take charcoal pills the smell goes away a 90%
thank you
This dude never blinks
He’s AI.
Albeit not super related, I think it should be "Dispersion (or London Dispersion) forces" instead of the more general "Van der Waals" forces, since the latter is the overall term for all Intermolecular forces, while the former is basically a Van der Waals force acting upon nonpolar molecules where instantaneous dipoles occur due to electron arrangement.
So glad to know how it works in depth! I work in a lab and use this all the time for our filters so I'm glad that I won't just be mindlessly using it now! Thanks!
I just finished learning about industrial wastewater treatment and just wanted to relax a bit before going to bed ... then I saw this video.
Then why does the hospital give you activated charcoal for alcohol poisoning if it doesnt absorb alcohol
My teeth are whiter. But not by the charcoal alone. But I will say that it does clean teeth just as good as toothpaste.
And I don't know about your gas, but it does work for mine.
For hangovers though, I still recommend milk thistle and/or dandelion (liver cleaning herbs).
They also use it in gas mask filters! Though I'd like to know why the AC goes off in the filters after a while even without them being used in hazardous environments?
Us aquarists know that activated charcoal binds well to tannines, a compound present in all plant matter that likes to color aquarium water a nice brownish yellow (it is however otherwise harmless). Does that hue sound at all familiar, speaking of teeth whitening?
Too late SciShow, video games taught me this already! Go figure.
Still appreciated.
I love the Princess Bride reference
Oncorhynchus nerka why are you a salmon?
SciShow is life
Activated charcoal can absorb vitamins that are present in your food, so consuming it on a regular basis could lead to deficiencies.
What about as a facial cleanser? That's a hugely popular use for this stuff. In that case I guess it would work pretty well to clean out your pores.
Also useful for adsorbing certain smells. And in fish tank filters
I don’t know what you are gonna say in this video but I will say I have been taking activated charcoal for years and it is a literal life saver!! I don’t know how I would handle stomach aches without it. Works as well as a drug! I just take some in some water and it starts to work almost instantly. Within an hour I’m cured.
That is with the exception of food that NEEDS to come up. In that case I’ll drank it and still throw up but the amount of times it’s saved my nausea makes it an absolute win! I won’t take anything for else for stomach aches. This is the solution!
P.s. no side effects either.
bloody knew it! saw it on a ton of products and just laughed of the silliness of charcoal removing "toxins" from your body combo
Thanks man
yup. been using the stuff for many years to filter aquarium water and drinking water. Also good to get rid of some odors (activated charcoal undies anybody?)
Thanks
You say Van der Waals forces are attractions between uncharged molecules, but that's just London Dispersion forces, and not Dipole-Dipole forces (which are included under Van der Waals). It seems inappropriate in this context to refer to the intermolecular attractions as anything more than London Dispersion forces.
Thank you!
A C T I V A T E D A L M O N D S
So i'm not one to jump on trends, and never would have bought it for myself, but my friend bought me activated charcoal "tooth whitening powder" and activated charcoal toothpaste. I did a bunch of reading first and determined that charcoal is porous and therefore absorbs bacteria/stains, but the particles are to large to absorb into the porous material that is teeth, so the teeth cannot be stained black but the charcoal can suck surface stains off of teeth. I read the main problem is that its abrasive and can damage enamel, so rather than brush with the abrasive powder i gently apply it on my teeth and leave it there for a few minutes then rinse it out and brush gently with the charcoal toothpaste (which actually feels much less abrasive than standard toothpastes) and to my absolute shock my teeth were shades whiter from my first attempt! Now the reason i was so shocked (aside from the fact that it actually worked, and so soon at that) is that i was born with yellow teeth. Something to do with my mom or her medications but i was born with yellow teeth and when my adult teeth came in they were a shade yellow as well. I always assumed my teeth could never be white. While they are not magazine cover white yet, they are significantly improved! I am only worried that my teeth are white as a result of stripping away some protective layer and revealing white (yet exposed) material underneath. Is it actually possible its working with no ill effect!? I thought it was all hype i never imagined the stuff could work for dental purposes (in fact i thought it would likely do more harm than good) as is usually the case when something's too good to be true.
FYI: Many of us also know Van Der Walls forces as “London-forces” :)
Finally COAL Family has done some good work in tackling pollution (water pollution).
I love the subtle princess bride reference
it does whitten your teeth. I brushed my teeth with just normal coconut shell charcoal, i had a weird thing growing on my teeth back then, like a black line and running my teeth, those thing almost completely vanished.
I reckon the teeth whitening thing is because you have to scrub extra carefully to get rid of the blackness in your chops meaning you getting a better over all clean
I hear it's good for acid reflux. Anyone know anything about that?
Good info! Merry Christmas everyone!!!
Cool thanks
As a kid in the sixties, the doctor gave us activated charcoal (granulated and sweetened) to eat with a spoon against diarrhea.
It makes sense for absorbing alcohols, since they are organic, carbon based compounds.
Merry Christmas people! :)
u 2 :)
Thanks , you too :)
Merry Christmas!
Marry Christmas to you all and a happy, healthy new years as well. Stay happy people!
Happy Dies Natalis Solis Invicti for you too.
Wow thanks for sharing. Coz explain it more specific in a short time.
Activated bamboo charcoal works really well as moisture absorbent and odor eliminator. Check out our amazon product reviews! I don't know about eating it though. I haven't tried that yet and probably will never do.
I'm surprised that we didn't talk about activated charcoal in Chemistry class when we talked about Van Der Vaal forces.