Activated charcoal won't help snakebites

The only effective treatment for snake envenomation is antivenom.

Written by Dr. Mark Thomas

This has been a topic previously on NSS. Activated Charcoal has a lot of uses in medicine. It can absorb any chemical in a liquid form that is positively charged (it is a negatively charged particle). The charcoal, however, must be suspended within the liquid phase of the toxin/chemical to absorb it. When snake venom is injected within tissues it diffuses into the extravascular space and some cellular spaces. In short, the venom's cytotoxic proteins disrupt cell membranes, which is how it devastatingly affects the tissues. Activated charcoal is a large particle, much larger than the molecules of venom. It is not absorbed within tissues and does not enter the extravascular space. So it has no opportunity to absorb any molecule within this space. Ingesting activated charcoal does not distribute it thru the body, it stays within the GI tract. Applying it to a wound, similarly,  does not cause absorption into the tissues or extravascular space, where the venom is. It has no positive role in envenomations.

Written by Dr. Nick Brandehoff

AC (activated charcoal) is only for orally ingested medications that are known to bind AC. Since venom is injected, there is no role for it.