Hai Fu Shi
StarCostazia aculeata Canu et Bassler (bryozoan skeleton) or Pumex (volcanic pumice)
Traditionally used for
- Cough & breathing
- Urinary & fluids
Cautions & contraindications
- Kidney conditions
☯ TCM Properties
Clears Lung Heat and Transforms Phlegm; Dissipates Nodules and Softens Hardness; Promotes Urination and Relieves Stranguria
Traditional Chinese Uses
Hai Fu Shi (pumice) is a salty, cold, light mineral substance used to transform stubborn heat-type Phlegm, dissolve hardened masses from Phlegm accumulation, and clear Bladder Heat with stones. It addresses coughs with thick, viscous phlegm difficult to expectorate from Lung Heat, as well as hardened nodules and accumulations from Phlegm-Fire. Its Bladder-clearing action relieves urinary discomfort from heat and promotes the passage of small stones. Its lightness and porous texture contribute to its dissolving, dispersing properties.
Relationships
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Botanical Description
Hai Fu Shi (literally sea floating stone) refers to two distinct light, porous, floating substances used interchangeably in classical Chinese medicine. The first is the calcified skeleton of marine bryozoan colonies, primarily Costazia aculeata and related species, consisting of branching, antler- or coral-like structures composed largely of calcium carbonate, gathered from shallow tropical and subtropical seas. The second is pumice, a vesicular, glassy volcanic rock formed when frothy, gas-charged lava cools rapidly, light enough to float on water and composed mainly of silicates with abundant interconnected pores. Both substances share the same coarsely porous, light, brittle, grayish-white to pale brown character, and both are cleaned, calcined or simply broken into pieces, and powdered for use, where the porous texture is the basis of their traditional indication.
Active Constituents
Calcium carbonate
Carbonate mineralConcentration: The dominant component of the Costazia form (shi hua), the calcareous skeleton of colonial marine bryozoans, with small amounts of magnesium and iron
This is essentially all the chemistry the bryozoan form of the drug has. At the customary 9 to 15 g decocted dose it delivers a calcium carbonate load comparable to an antacid tablet regimen, which is the plausible basis for any effect on gastric acidity and for its interactions with acid-dependent and calcium-chelated drugs. It carries no organic pharmacology.
Magnesium carbonate within the skeletal calcite
Carbonate mineral phaseConcentration: Bryozoan skeletal calcite ranges from 0 to about 16 mol percent MgCO3; in a large survey about two thirds of bryozoan colonies were calcitic, with the remainder split roughly evenly between aragonitic and bimineralic
Magnesium substitution raises the solubility of the calcite and so governs how readily the skeleton dissolves in gastric acid. Because bryozoan mineralogy varies with taxon and with seawater temperature, the mineral phase of a given batch depends on where and from what species it was collected; no batch-level mineralogical specification exists for the medicinal article.
Silicon dioxide
Silicate mineral (volcanic glass)Concentration: The dominant component of the pumice form (fu shi)
Volcanic pumice is an insoluble aluminosilicate glass. It does not dissolve in gastric acid, releases no calcium, and has no antacid action, so any pharmacological reasoning that applies to the Costazia form does not transfer to it. A pumice-sourced batch is essentially inert insoluble particulate matter.
Aluminium oxide and potassium oxide
Oxide mineralsConcentration: Minor components of the pumice form alongside silicon dioxide
Ordinary constituents of volcanic glass. They are noted here because they mark the pumice form as a rock rather than a biomineral, and because aluminium content is a reason to be cautious about chronic dosing in renal impairment even though no assay of aluminium bioavailability from this drug exists.
Trace and heavy metal elements including arsenic, lead, cadmium and mercury
Inorganic contaminantsConcentration: Not quantified for this drug in the published literature. ICP-MS surveys of mineral-derived Chinese medicinal materials routinely determine around 70 elements, arsenic among them, but no published survey specific to Costaziae Os or medicinal pumice was found
Both source materials are geological or biomineral matrices that concentrate whatever the surrounding water or magma contained, and neither is refined before use. The absence of an assay is not evidence of a clean product; it is an unmeasured contaminant load. Any batch intended for prolonged dosing, and any batch given to a child or in pregnancy, should carry a supplier heavy-metal certificate.
⚠ Drug Interactions
Pumex (volcanic pumice) supplied interchangeably with Costaziae Os
Hai Fu Shi (海浮石), Fu Hai Shi (浮海石) and Shi Hua (石花) are name variants for a drug that has two officially recognised and routinely interchanged source materials: the calcareous skeleton of the bryozoans Costazia aculeata and Costazia costazii, which is mainly calcium carbonate with small amounts of magnesium and iron, and volcanic pumice, which is mainly silicon dioxide with aluminium oxide and potassium oxide. A soluble carbonate and an insoluble aluminosilicate glass share nothing chemically. Which one arrives determines whether the drug has an antacid and calcium-releasing action at all.
Clinical note: Ask the supplier which source material was shipped and record it. Authentic Costazia skeleton shows a branching coral-like morphology with fine pores; pumice is a light grey vesicular rock. If a calcium-mediated interaction matters for the patient, do not assume the identity from the pinyin name.
Tetracyclines, fluoroquinolones, levothyroxine, bisphosphonates and oral iron
The Costazia form of the drug is calcium carbonate, and 9 to 15 g of it is a substantial divalent calcium load taken with a meal-sized volume of decoction. Calcium chelates tetracyclines, fluoroquinolones and bisphosphonates into poorly absorbed complexes and reduces levothyroxine absorption; raising gastric pH additionally impairs the absorption of drugs that need an acid environment. These effects are well established for pharmaceutical calcium carbonate; no study has been done on this drug specifically, so the inference is from the chemistry rather than from direct data. It does not apply to a pumice-sourced batch.
Clinical note: Separate the decoction from these drugs by at least four hours. Recheck TSH if the patient is on levothyroxine and the herb is taken long term.
Calcium supplements, vitamin D analogues and thiazide diuretics
Again applicable only to the Costazia form. Thiazides reduce renal calcium excretion and vitamin D analogues increase absorption; adding several grams a day of carbonate calcium is additive in principle. Milk-alkali syndrome from high-dose calcium carbonate with alkali is the classical extreme of this. No case has been reported with this drug.
Clinical note: Avoid prolonged high-dose use in a patient on a thiazide plus a vitamin D analogue, in primary hyperparathyroidism, or in significant renal impairment.
Dui Yao — Herb Pairs
The classical two-herb combinations this herb appears in, each with an action neither herb has alone.
Both soften hardness and dissipate phlegm nodules; together they reduce stubborn phlegm accumulations.
Named pairing — Lü Jingshan, Shi Jinmo Dui Yao
Clears and softens hardened phlegm while descending qi, for cough with thick sputum that is hard to expectorate.
Named pairing — Lü Jingshan, Shi Jinmo Dui Yao
Historical Texts
Dan Xi Xin Fa (Teachings of Zhu Danxi), Zhu Zhenheng
Yuan dynasty teaching, 14th century; compiled and printed 1481References
- Fu XM, Zhang MQ, Shao CL, Li GQ, Bai H, Dai GL, et al.. Chinese Marine Materia Medica Resources: Status and Potential . Marine Drugs (2016) [DOI]
- Smith AM, Key MM, Gordon DP. Skeletal mineralogy of bryozoans: Taxonomic and temporal patterns . Earth-Science Reviews (2006) [DOI]
- Taylor PD, Lombardi C, Cocito S. Biomineralization in bryozoans: present, past and future . Biological Reviews (2014) [DOI]
- Chen W, Yang Y, Fu K, Zhang D, Wang Z. Progress in ICP-MS Analysis of Minerals and Heavy Metals in Traditional Medicine . Frontiers in Pharmacology (2022) [DOI]
This information is for educational purposes only and is not intended to replace professional medical advice. Always consult a qualified healthcare provider before using any herbal remedy, especially if you are pregnant, nursing, or taking medications.
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