Activated carbon in powdered form should be in every medicine cabinet and first aid kit.  It is also called activated charcoal.  Activated charcoal is used around the world as a universal antidote for hundreds of poisons, including arsenic, mercury, pesticides, strychnine, warfarin, hemlock, E. Coli endotoxin, and petrol (gasoline). Over 4,000 chemicals, drugs, plant and microbial toxins, allergens, venoms, and wastes are effectively neutralized by activated charcoal when it is given in sufficient quantities.  Activated charcoal is also an effective detox for practically any drug overdose if administered in time. It counteracts ingested aspirin, barbiturates, prozac, paracetamol (Tylenol), phenobarbital, amphetamines, cocaine, THC, morphine, opium, and the list continues endlessly.

In 1831, in front of his distinguished colleagues at the French Academy of Medicine, Professor Touery drank a deadly cocktail of strychnine and lived to tell the tale.  He had combined the deadly poison with activated charcoal.  This is how powerful activated charcoal is as an emergency decontaminate of the gastrointestinal tract.  Activated charcoal is still considered to be the most potent general detoxification agent available.

In typical fashion, the medical establishment has begun suppressing this cheap, easy, and effective natural cure by discrediting it to promote pharmaceuticals.  (They know where their bread is buttered, and charcoal works a little too well for good profit margins.)  For example, the establishment is now claiming that activated charcoal does not work well against arsenic.  However, the truth is found in charcoal's long history.

In 1813, French chemist Michel Bertrand swallowed five grams of arsenic trioxide: 150 times the lethal dose.  He had mixed it with activated carbon beforehand.  He experienced no nausea, no vomiting, no diarrhea, no excruciating cramping, no severe burning in the mouth or throat, no collapse, and no death.  In a dangerous but dramatic way, he had avoided certain death demonstrating charcoal s phenomenal ability to neutralize poisons.

Nowadays, the medical establishment (and chemical industry) has begun promoting alumina (aluminium oxide) as a superior arsenic neutralizer.  Aluminum is toxic itself.  In fact, aluminum is known to be a cumulative heavy metal poison, which if left untreated, will have physical and mental health consequences for the remainder of the victim's life.  Aluminum is so bad that it should be avoided in cookware.  On the other hand, alumina is better for the pharmaceutical and medical business.  The deception has reached such a scale that many water purifier companies are no longer including arsenic in their lists of toxins that their carbon filters remove, and this is very likely due to intimidation by the either the F.D.A. or F.T.C., on behalf of the chemical industry.

"The thing that bugs me most is that people think the F.D.A. is protecting them - it isn t. What the FDA is doing, and what the public thinks it is doing, are as different as night and day."

― Herbert Ley, former Commissioner of the F.D.A.

We have experienced the saving power of activated charcoal ourselves, when one member of our household experienced a severe allergic reaction to an unknown ingredient from a restaurant.  We orally administered two teaspoons of dampened activated charcoal powder, followed by a glass of water.  The allergic reaction began subsiding rapidly, and completely dissipated within thirty minutes.  Activated carbon may have saved us from a visit to the hospital's emergency room, an injection of steroids (and only God knows what else), a stomach pump, and possibly the need for the victim to remain in the hospital for several days.

We had prepared our activated charcoal by powdering filtration charcoal, which is used for fish aquariums.  It has the same purpose for aquarium water: to extract various toxins from the water, including organic wastes. It can also be found in some pharmacies.  Regardless of where it is obtained, it should be powdered before it is stored, and dampened when used.  It should be stored in an air-tight container, because it will absorb impurities from the air.  Swallowing it wet prevents the powder from leaching into the lungs, where it could become dangerous.  A glass of water should be consumed immediately afterward.

Exceptions: Activated charcoal is considered less effective in neutralizing cyanide, alcohols, ethanol, ethylene glycol, iron, lithium, methanol, mineral acids and alkaline substances (usually lime or cleaning agents). Alcohols appear to be immune to activated carbon.

Risks: Charcoal significantly decreases your body's absorption of all nutrients and medications. Because of this, frequent use of it is strongly discouraged. Activated charcoal may also cause abdominal pain or swelling in rare cases. If this occurs, contact a medical doctor immediately, since this could be an indication of intestinal bleeding or blockage.

Other Uses:

• Colon cleanse: activated charcoal binds intestinal toxins and unfriendly microbial growth and helps the body excrete them.
• Eliminates diarrhea, gas, and bloating
• Prevents hangovers: hangovers are usually caused by the chemical toxins put into beverages, and are not usually the result of alcohol consumption.
• Neutralizes food poisoning
• Neutralizes venomous bites (for instance the brown recluse spider bite) - taken both internally and externally.
• Toothache pain - made into a paste around the tooth.

Note: Charcoal briquettes like those used for cooking should never be used to make medical activated charcoal, and no part of them should ever be ingested.

References:

Some of this data was taken from the Super Natural Charcoal site found at: http://www.buyactivatedcharcoal.com

More information about the uses of activated charcoal can be referenced at Earth Clinic: http://www.earthclinic.com/Remedies/charcoal.html