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. 2007 Apr;22(2):383-5.
doi: 10.3346/jkms.2007.22.2.383.

Activated charcoal suppresses breeding of the house dust mite, Dermatophagoides pteronyssinus, in culture

Hae-Seon Nam  1 , Robert Siebers, Sun-Hwa Lee, Sung-Ho Kim, Sang-Han Lee, Julian Crane
Affiliations

Activated charcoal suppresses breeding of the house dust mite, Dermatophagoides pteronyssinus, in culture

Hae-Seon Nam et al. J Korean Med Sci. 2007 Apr.

Abstract

House dust mite sensitized asthmatics are advised to practice allergen avoidance. Charcoal pillows are used in Korea with unsubstantiated claims regarding their efficacy in alleviating asthma symptoms. We tested the effects of activated charcoal on breeding of house dust mites in culture. Twenty live adult house dust mites (Dermatophagoides pteronyssinus) were inoculated, 10 replicates, on culture media containing 0%, 1%, 3%, 5%, 10%, and 20% activated charcoal and incubated at 25 degrees C and a relative humidity of 75%. After four weeks, the mean numbers of live house dust mites were 286, 176, 46, 16, 7, and 0 for the 0%, 1%, 3%, 5%, 10%, and 20% charcoal-containing culture media, respectively. Thus, activated charcoal suppresses breeding of house dust mites and offers a new promising method for house dust mite control.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors state that they do not have any conflict of interest relating to this article.

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