Living Energy - Disclaimer

BAKUHAN Stone comes from Kamo-gun in the Gifu Prefecture, Japan near Ena Mountain. There are similar stones to BAKUHAN i.e. Naeki Stone, Yamaguchi Stone and Ena Stone (the key constituent of BioCeramica) which all originate from this area.

The surface of the earth (the earth’s crust) comprises rocks of which the principal components are silicates. Typical examples comprise granite and andesite. These minerals possess the ability to promote the growth of animals and plants, or to build up disease resistance, so called physiological activity. Wild animals instinctively perceive the state of their own health, and eat earth and drink spring water to re-condition themselves; further, when wounded they know which rocks are good for wounds, rub their bodies against them and wait for their wounds to heal. Even cows, pigs and chicken bred in farm buildings, compete to lick stones and to eat the ground when released into fields. They instinctively know that they need components from natural minerals for their bodies and that the minerals promote their body activity. The Mongolian hero, Genghis Khan, before going on an expedition, gave his soldiers a handful of pulverised rock as a drug for the treatment of arrow and sword wounds, and a handful of ground up rock as a remedy for fatigue and food poisoning. It is believed that the rocks were boiled in water, and the water drunk and used to cook food. This is rock soup, in other words, mineral soup. Also, for hundreds of years up till the present time, the main components of drugs in Tibetan Lama medicine have been pulverised minerals.

These minerals are used to treat internal medical, external medical, gynaecological and ophthalmological complaints. The progress of a materialistic culture has destroyed the natural environment, and living creatures increasingly have become isolated from the land. With this, the intake of minerals and calcium ions, essential substances for the survival of life, has begun to decrease, and harmful effects have begun to happen to living organisms. Only rocks and minerals can supplement this deficiency. The desire to remove these harmful effects by using rocks is reflected in the current trend for alternative or complementary medicine, for example in health techniques using rocks, such as in mineral health techniques using BAKUHAN Stone etc. Arising from fears of the harmful effects caused by man-made drugs which have accompanied the development of modern medicine, people's interest has been growing in folklore Chinese medicines which have very little side effects. In particular, health techniques using minerals, and treatments using medicinal minerals have been regaining the recognition they once had.

Medicinal rocks and minerals have a long history. The oldest specialist Chinese book of medicine, "Shinnouhonzokyo", written in the period of the latter Kang dynasty (AD25~220), gives priority to several medicinal minerals over drugs made from animals and plants, and the position of these medicinal minerals as drugs is higher than that of animals and plants. As far as the reason for this is concerned, it was said in this book that "when a plant is burned, it turns to ash, but for example when a mercuric mineral is burned, it turns to mercury and if the mercury is mixed with sulphur and heated, it returns to a mercuric mineral, and such cyclic behaviour cannot be achieved by a plant". As time has passed, the number of medicinal minerals described in the specialist books has increased; and though there were 83 entries for medicinal minerals in "Shinsyuhonzou" in the Tou period (AD610~907), there are 133 entries in "Honzoukoumoku" which is used as the source text for Chinese medicine today. In Japan, medicinal minerals started to be used from the Nara period, about 1200 years ago. Among the treasures kept at the Shosoin Palace, there is the "Syusyu Yakucho" (book of various medicines), and in this book 19 medicinal minerals are listed.

These are Kansuiseki, Riseki, Taichiuyoryo, Hakuryuukotsu, Goshikiryusi, Jiryukotsuseki, Syakusekishi, Syounyusyou, Bousyo, Unmohun, Juen, Bokusyo, Uyoryo, Ryukotsu, Ryukaku, Goshikiryukotsu, Seisekishi, Sekien and Mitsudaso. Many of these medicinal minerals were not produced in Japan, but imported from Tou (China), and so medicinal minerals in Japan in those days were expensive and precious, only available to the imperial families and parts of the aristocracy. By the Edo period (1615~1868), the study of medicinal minerals had progressed, and medicinal minerals had been discovered in Japan (mainly in Gifu Prefecture) and spread to ordinary people. However, as a result of the appearance of western medicine and man-made drugs in the Meij period (1868~1912), medicinal minerals were suddenly forgotten. Today, the land is being destroyed due to increasing modernisation and plants and animals including man are being affected. Now is the time therefore, to again appreciate the value of natural rocks and minerals and look to their medicinal benefits.

It has been said that judging from the diffraction peaks (see attached) when the components of BAKUHAN Stone are analysed using an X-ray powder diffraction method, BAKUHAN Stone consists of more than 25,000 varieties of substances. When other minerals consisting of a relatively large number of substances are analysed using the same method, the diffraction pattern merely shows a series of small peaks which are almost straight lines. Cases such as BAKUHAN Stone showing randomly distributed, very high peaks with small peaks present in the middle of such peaks, are extremely rare, and expert analysts are convinced that the reasons for the power of BAKUHAN Stone must lie within these peaks.

BAKUHAN Stone possesses a catalytic action and accelerates chemical reactions, and more particularly, the catalytic power is enhanced because it has a multi-substance composition. The enhanced catalytic power means that there is a heightened ability for the substance environments to be changed into reactive zones. BAKUHAN Stone contains iron, titanium, copper, manganese, zinc, vanadium and the like, and so demonstrates an oxidative and decomposing action on organic compounds (more particularly, during the purification and activation of water, this action can be enhanced by combining with aeration).

The multi-substance composition of BAKUHAN Stone has reinforced "inter elemental affinity", and as a result physically adsorbed harmful substances react secondarily with elements or compounds present on the inner surfaces of the pores, and chemical adsorption takes place. Naturally, such chemical adsorption, catalytic action etc., could not be expected from active carbon (as used in conventional water purification methods) and Zeolite, never mind rocks with simple compositions.

The wide-ranging powerful capability of adsorption by BAKUHAN Stone can be seen right across from agrochemicals to radioactivity. For example, the ß-emission of 138 counts per minutes of one liter of rain water has been reported to be reduced to 46 counts per minute according to test results from Gift Pharmaceutical College. Also, Dr. Katsumi Ishikawa, an associate professor in the Department of Agriculture, Miyazaki University suggested in the “Agrochemical adsorption property of BAKUHAN Stone, No. l” that “BAKUHAN Stone has a large agrochemical adsorbing effect, and by dispensing certain quantities of BAKUHAN Stone onto golf courses where the links have been intensively managed using chemicals causing ground water pollution, the water quality can be greatly improved, and the water quality standards set by the Environmental Agency, Ministry of Health and Welfare, can be easily met”.

BAKUHAN Stone adsorption tests have been carried out on many other substances, such as Mercury ions (Hg2+), Cadmium ions (Cd2+), Cyanide ions (CN-), Chromate ions (hexavalent chromium CrO42-), Fluorine ions (F-), Activated chlorine (Cl0-) and so forth. The results suggest that there is demonstrated strong adsorption against cations but that the adsorption against anions is relatively poor except in some special cases (Cl0-). BAKUHAN Stone yields good results in the adsorption of bacteria, and has showed a 57% adsorption against white Staphylococcus. These various tests have revealed BAKUHAN Stone's adsorption action to be not merely a simple absorption action as in the case of active carbon etc., but also that a degradative action is also present.

For example, an adsorption test for residual chlorine showed about a 90% adsorption in 300 minutes. How much of the adsorbed residual chlorine was adhered to the BAKUHAN Stone, was also investigated. When a test solution, Potassium iodine starch solution, which turns blue in the presence of chlorine, was mixed into water treated with BAKUHAN Stone for 300 minutes, little reaction was observed (an obvious result as 90% of chlorine had been adsorbed). However, when a few drops of the test solution were dropped onto the BAKUHAN Stone which had adsorbed 90% of the chlorine and had been removed from the water, the BAKUHAN Stone which should have reacted and caused a blue colour, showed little sign of reaction.

This means that the residual chlorine was no longer present in the BAKUHAN Stone, and can be considered as proof that BAKUHAN Stone not only possesses an adsorption action but also a degradative action. The same applied to an adsorption test for methylene blue. BAKUHAN Stone, by being left to stand for 48 hours, had an adsorption rate of almost 100% for methylene blue. The water became clear and no trace of methylene blue could be seen on the surface or around the BAKUHAN Stone. Although comparative tests with a "similar stone" showed little fading of the methylene blue colour and it first appeared that about half had been adsorbed, in fact, the methylene blue was floating around the stone in a gel-like state, indicating a result that could be described as absorption rather than adsorption.

In this way, BAKUHAN Stone has been proved to have a multiple faceted action, for example, not only adsorptive but also degradative.

The attached electron micrograph of very finely powdered BAKUHAN Stone is confirmation that it is exceptionally porous and has a large surface area.In addition, it is thought that physical and chemical adsorptions take place because the feldspar part has been weathered and Kaolinite has been formed.

When BAKUHAN Stone, its powder or its extract is used, why is there a preservative effect, and why does bacteria get adsorbed? To answer these questions, Professor Takeo Ohno at Gifu Pharmaceutical College has the following explanation."

The aluminosilicate (feldspar) contained in BAKUHAN Stone has a chemical composition of KAlSi3O8, NaAISi3O8, CaAl2Si2O8 or MgAl2Si2O8 etc., and it is well known that the silicate, Si2O, in the composition, has a three dimensional structure where tetrahedra of SiO4 (Figure 1) are arranged three-dimensionally. Moreover, it is believed that some parts of the structure have aluminium receiving lone pair coordination from bridging oxygen atoms, and that the caged structure shown in Figure 2 is formed. In addition, it is thought that Magnesium, Sodium and Potassium form bonding at the end of the structures as shown it Figure 3.

The bonding between the oxygen and Mg, Ca, Na and K is ionic bonding, and when BAKUHAN Stone is placed in water, ionisation gradually takes place and -SiO radicals are formed at the ends of the structures.

The existence of these -SiO(-) radicals is clearly seen in the infrared spectra of BAKUHAN Stone.

The -SiO(-) free radicals are thought to be involved in the adsorption of pigments and bacteria as well as that of iron ions, mercury ions etc. Therefore, the adsorption of Fe3+, Hg2+ etc. is a result of the bonding to -SiO(-) as shown in the following equations.

The adsorption of pigments and bacteria can be thought to occur due to the positively charged nitrogen atoms in the pigment molecules and bacterial proteins. Particularly in bacteria, it is thought that the bacterial adsorption phenomena is observed as a result of multiple bonding between numerous -N(+)- in the bacterial bodies and a number of the -SiO(-) in the BAKUHAN Stone.

In addition to this, BAKUHAN Stone feldspar is extremely porous as a result of weathering and dissolution, and it is thought to show the marked adsorption action as a consequence of the greatly increased number of -SiO(-) radicals compared to ordinary feldspars.

The phenomena that the ion dissolution and adsorption action increase together with increasingly fine pulverisation of the BAKUHAN Stone, can be understood in terms of the above theory.“Namely, it is thought that the activity of bacteria is suppressed due to spare -SiO free radicals in the BAKUHAN Stone taking up nitrogen atoms.”