Thursday, April 1, 2010

What is Activated Charcoal and Why is It Given to Poisoned Dogs?

This is in reference to Boone's treatment in the previous post. 






Very good question Wanderingowloutside!

What is charcoal used for?

Activated carbon, also called activated charcoal or "Activated coal" is a form of carbon that has been processed to make it extremely porous and thus to have a very large surface area available for adsorption or chemical reactions.[1]
The word activated in the name is sometimes replaced with active. Due to its high degree of microporosity, just one gram of activated carbon has a surface area in excess of 500 m2, as determined typically by nitrogen gas adsorption. Sufficient activation for useful applications may come solely from the high surface area, though further chemical treatment often enhances the absorbing properties of the material. Activated carbon is usually derived from charcoal.

In other words..........

The charcoal absorbs or actually adsorbs the poison and carries it out of the body without allowing the body to absorb it. Therefore, saving the life of the dog, and sometimes, human being.

Source: Wikipedia

1 comment: