Review ArticleOpen Access

The Appropriate Use of Activated Charcoal in Pharmaceutical and Toxicological Approaches

Volume 5 - Issue 2

*Ahed J Alkhatib¹, and Khalid Alzaailay²

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- ¹Department of Legal Medicine, Jordan University of Science and Technology, Jordan
- ²Center of Toxicology and Forensic Medicinal Chemistry, Ministry of Health, Saudi Arabia
*Corresponding author: Ahed J Alkhatib, Department of Legal Medicine, Jordan University of Science and Technology, Jordan

Received: May 25, 2018; Published: June 06, 2018

DOI: 10.26717/BJSTR.2018.05.001170

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Abstract

Activated charcoal has the ability to adsorb toxic materials, substances, poisons introduced to digestive system including stomach and intestine. The objectives of this study were to review the literature for updates in using activated charcoal for therapeutic purposes. The recent evidence of literature supports the idea of using single use of activated charcoal (SDAC) following overdose of a toxin, chemical substance, drug, or poison. The best results are obtained if activated charcoal is administered immediately following the intake of the chemical substance, however after 6 hours, SDAC still works efficiently. Low doses of activated charcoal can be given, particularly if side effects are likely to be encountered.

Keywords: Activated charcoal, Single dose of activated charcoal (SDAC), Poison, Toxin, Poison

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