I think pharmacies carry activated charcoal in tablet form.
I have a little portable unit that I take with me when traveling. (same charcoal is used in household water filters)
If all that is available is tap water at some destination, I pour the tap water through by unit, which is filled with activated charcoal.
The charcoal removes the chlorine from the water.
I have tested the water after it has been filtered to prove there was no chlorine left in it, there wasn't.
My question
if the charcoal is meant to remove chlorine and other "impurities" in the water....does it also filter out the remedy ?
Lynn
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Christine Gillen wrote:
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Imagine Peace
Charcoal as preserver
Re: Charcoal as preserver
Hi Lynn
How did you test to ensure that there was no chlorine left?
Thanks
Kerry
How did you test to ensure that there was no chlorine left?
Thanks
Kerry
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Lynn Cremona
- Posts: 633
- Joined: Thu Apr 22, 2004 10:00 pm
Re: Charcoal as preserver
Used swimming pool OTO (OrthoTOlidene) test
it turns the water yellow if there is any chlorine in the water
Lynn
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Kerry wrote:
--
Imagine Peace
it turns the water yellow if there is any chlorine in the water
Lynn
------------
Kerry wrote:
--
Imagine Peace
-
John Harvey
- Posts: 1331
- Joined: Wed Oct 18, 2006 10:00 pm
Re: Charcoal as preserver
It's a good question! But are you talking about the chemical substance of the remedy, or the dynamic effect transferred to the water through dynamisation?
Yes, in many cases, the chemical substance, if the remedy is low enough in potency to have any, would be adsorbed onto the charcoal.
Hahnemann would have been acutely aware of that, I'd imagine, and have tested low potencies for a resultant loss of effectiveness -- and evidently found nothing to worry about. This may even have been part of the evidence that convinced him that medicinal effects are largely dynamic, rather than merely chemical, in nature (as is effectively confirmed in some senses in biochemical mimicry of one molecule by another of similar molecular shape) and could well have helped stimulate his thinking to explore the higher dilution ratios (leading to the development of the Q potencies). This is, of course, entirely hypothetical musing on my part.
What is certain is that charcoal has no ability, at least in any of the remedies with which Hahnemann used it, to nullify the dynamic medicine contained in a potency, even if it does make (some of) what remains of its chemical substance unavailable. I see no reason to suppose that it would interfere with a medicine's dynamic effects, but my knowledge of chemistry is limited, and frankly I have no understanding either of why it would be that some particularly aromatic substances should have such an effect. (Activated charcoal is of course not aromatic at all; quite the opposite, it absorbs odours readily. But that's neither here nor there.) The only potential explanation that occurs to me, on the spur of the moment, is that such substances (coffee, camphor, etc.) may share two properties: readiness of medicinal power (sufficient to overcome the delicate medicinal effects of potencies), and ready solubility in the state (often, but not always, gaseous) in which such substances come into contact, through the air, with the potency so affected. In other words, it may just be that such substances as coffee and camphor don't destroy remedies but merely overpower their effect on the ingester of them. Charcoal, having very weak medicinal properties, would not have such an effect, and is of very low solubility.
That said, I've just done a quick bit of checking on its chemistry, and find that the process of activation that I understood to be used -- subjection to very high temperature in an oxygen-free environment -- is no longer the preferred method. The preferred method of activating it (because, essentially, it's cheaper) is to use chemical activation, which can leave a chemical residue. Whilst the only potential residue that I saw mentioned was zinc and it's harmless enough, it does introduce an element (so to speak) into the influences on the potentised remedy that was not something Hahnemann had to take account of.
In a nutshell, it's quite possible that if you're unable to check what process was used to activate the charcoal, you may be using activated charcoal that contains a chemical residue with an entirely unknown potential to deactivate the remedy. So it's a tough one. Perhaps maintaining initial purity obtaining reasonably pure alcohol (which can be bought in small quantities from pharmacists), and using a short shelf life (maybe a day) for unalcoholised remedy solutions is the surer option.
Cheers --
John
2009/12/10 Lynn Cremona >
Yes, in many cases, the chemical substance, if the remedy is low enough in potency to have any, would be adsorbed onto the charcoal.
Hahnemann would have been acutely aware of that, I'd imagine, and have tested low potencies for a resultant loss of effectiveness -- and evidently found nothing to worry about. This may even have been part of the evidence that convinced him that medicinal effects are largely dynamic, rather than merely chemical, in nature (as is effectively confirmed in some senses in biochemical mimicry of one molecule by another of similar molecular shape) and could well have helped stimulate his thinking to explore the higher dilution ratios (leading to the development of the Q potencies). This is, of course, entirely hypothetical musing on my part.
What is certain is that charcoal has no ability, at least in any of the remedies with which Hahnemann used it, to nullify the dynamic medicine contained in a potency, even if it does make (some of) what remains of its chemical substance unavailable. I see no reason to suppose that it would interfere with a medicine's dynamic effects, but my knowledge of chemistry is limited, and frankly I have no understanding either of why it would be that some particularly aromatic substances should have such an effect. (Activated charcoal is of course not aromatic at all; quite the opposite, it absorbs odours readily. But that's neither here nor there.) The only potential explanation that occurs to me, on the spur of the moment, is that such substances (coffee, camphor, etc.) may share two properties: readiness of medicinal power (sufficient to overcome the delicate medicinal effects of potencies), and ready solubility in the state (often, but not always, gaseous) in which such substances come into contact, through the air, with the potency so affected. In other words, it may just be that such substances as coffee and camphor don't destroy remedies but merely overpower their effect on the ingester of them. Charcoal, having very weak medicinal properties, would not have such an effect, and is of very low solubility.
That said, I've just done a quick bit of checking on its chemistry, and find that the process of activation that I understood to be used -- subjection to very high temperature in an oxygen-free environment -- is no longer the preferred method. The preferred method of activating it (because, essentially, it's cheaper) is to use chemical activation, which can leave a chemical residue. Whilst the only potential residue that I saw mentioned was zinc and it's harmless enough, it does introduce an element (so to speak) into the influences on the potentised remedy that was not something Hahnemann had to take account of.
In a nutshell, it's quite possible that if you're unable to check what process was used to activate the charcoal, you may be using activated charcoal that contains a chemical residue with an entirely unknown potential to deactivate the remedy. So it's a tough one. Perhaps maintaining initial purity obtaining reasonably pure alcohol (which can be bought in small quantities from pharmacists), and using a short shelf life (maybe a day) for unalcoholised remedy solutions is the surer option.
Cheers --
John
2009/12/10 Lynn Cremona >