By Rashidat Oladele
Claim: It has been claimed that charcoal is the only antidote in the world that can treat ingested poison.
Specifically, on 3rd of August 2023, a video was posted on TikTok by HealthiMe with a visual representation of Barbara Oneil talking about activated charcoal, and how hospitals use it to treat ingested poison, snake bite and poison sting.
The page, which has over 10,000 followers, said the video has since then gathered over 6471 likes,147 comment , 2275 bookmark, and1459 share
https://vm.tiktok.com/ZM6mYkh8d/
NatureNews, Africa’s No. 1 nature publication was committed to presenting factual insights to the public, and especially consumers of social media contents.
Findings: NatureFact, the fact-checking unit of NatureNews, conducted the research on bing Ai search tool, and some medical publications about activated charcoal https://www.healthline.com/nutrition/activated-charcoal.
https://www.rch.org.au/clinicalguide/guideline_index/Use_of_Activated_Charcoal_in_Poisonings/
All publications attest to the fact that it can only be used for some ingested toxin poison but not in all cases, and it has to be administered by a health practitioner. On the use of charcoal to neutralise snake bite, NatureFact finds that it can only help to slow down the venom before the victim gets proper medicare.
https://thehikingauthority.com/can- you-use-charcoal-to-cure-poisonous-snake-bites/
Verdict: It is true that charcoal can neutralise ingested poison, but it also depends on the degree of intoxication of patients.