Home administration of charcoal: can mothers administer a therapeutic dose?

This study evaluated whether children under 3 years of age would drink a therapeutic dose of activated charcoal (AC) in a simulated home environment. Children 13 to 35 months participated with their mothers. Children were randomly assigned to receive AC mixed with regular cola or with diet cola. Maximum time allowed to drink the AC was 30 min. A therapeutic dose was defined as 1 gm/kg or 15 g (the entire bottle) if the child weighed >15 kg. Fifteen children participated; eight received AC with regular cola; seven received AC with diet cola. Ages ranged from 13 to 30 months (average 19 months; SD 4.5 months). Eleven of 15 (73%) drank <1/2 (60 mL) of the AC. Nine of 15 (60%) drank <1/4 of the AC (30 mL). None of these children ingested a therapeutic dose. Three of the 15 (20%) drank > or =100 mL equaling a therapeutic dose. All three were in the group receiving regular cola; 62.5% (five of the eight) who had AC mixed with regular cola did not drink a therapeutic dose. The potential for failure of home AC administration needs to be considered when making the decision to recommend home stocking of AC. Mixing AC with cola does not ensure successful administration. Diet cola does not appear to be an alternative.