Safety, toxicity and related issues/ 19.02.24
Advice on the safety issues of using essential oils
Essential oil safety. The known and the unknown. By Martin Watt RISKS It is important for you to appreciate that most essential oils can be hazardous if they are not used correctly. Most essential oils are perfectly safe for the general public, but there are a few with well-documented dangers. Regretfully, many essential oils supplie...
Safety, toxicity and related issues/ 19.02.24
Aromatherapy Undiluted- Safety and Ethics
Aromatherapy Undiluted- Safety and Ethics by Tony Burfield and Sylla Sheppard-Hanger (2005) Modified from an article - A Brief Safety Guidance on Essential Oils for the IFA. Please note that the first version was in a different software format.Some remnants of that may remain, such as a . mark instead of an ' Introduction: In the last...
Safety, toxicity and related issues/ 19.02.24
Photosensitisation - the variables and examples
Factors affecting Photosensitisation and Sensitisation. By Martin Watt Introduction: There are a number of variables which need to be taken into account when considering which essential oils are safe to use on the skin. Obviously the first thing is the RIFM and other figures of maximum recommended volumes of essential oils to be used on the sk...
Marketing issues/ 19.02.24
The dangers of using 'untested' essential oils Blog sites that link to Amazon shops
ESSENTIAL OILS SALES VIA AMAZON.COM & THE INADEQUATE SAFETY WARNINGS OF THE SUPPLIERS By Martin Watt Safety: Amazon say: “The Product Safety Team at Amazon works to protect Amazon customers from risks of injury associated with products offered on Amazon by looking into and taking action on reported safety complaints and incidents”. Yet, w...
Safety, toxicity and related issues/ 19.02.24
Benzoin - warnings on its use
BENZOIN A safe preservative or not? By Martin Watt In 1992 IFRA, the world's leading experts in safety issues of all aromatic extracts, issued new guidelines on the use of Benzoin extracts in cosmetic products. They recommended that only extracts processed by methods which eliminated allergens should be used in cosmetic products. This...
Safety, toxicity and related issues/ 19.02.24
Old lavender oil - the dangers
Old lavender oil may be a problem. By Martin Watt. In Sept 2003 I obtained some papers on aged linalool and lavender oil which are rather alarming. For years I have been advising therapists not to use old citrus peel or pine family oils on the skin. This is because as those oils age with oxygen exposure, they form chemicals which can initi...
Safety, toxicity and related issues/ 19.02.24
Pennyroyal oil - the myths and facts
NATURAL TOXINS IN TRADITIONAL MEDICINES some MYTHS removed © By M. Watt 1994. Revised 2006 First Published by The Aromatic Thymes Vol. 3 No.4 1995. pp22-30 Introduction: A lot of misleading information has been published for many years about commonly occurring "toxins in plant medicines." This has not only occurred in the media, but als...
Safety, toxicity and related issues/ 19.02.24
Suspect methods of investigating plant toxins
GENERAL METHODOLOGY OF INVESTIGATING NATURAL PLANT TOXINS By Martin Watt A few scientists have acknowledged that one cannot assume genotoxicity in natural products simply because one isolated chemical demonstrates this property. Certain plant chemicals in isolation are known to cause severe skin reactions. However, fragrance chemists know...
Safety, toxicity and related issues/ 19.02.24
Warnings on consumption of lemongrass oil article on ehow.com
“How to Ingest Lemongrass Oil” a review on: http://www.ehow.co.uk Review by Martin Watt Full URL: http://www.ehow.co.uk/how_5780039_ingest-lemongrass-oil.html This company (Demand Media), run information web sites on a wide variety of advisory topics. However, when challenged on the accuracy and safety of their featured articles they...
Safety, toxicity and related issues/ 19.02.24
Chemistry - errors on safety issues a review for the IFA
An evaluation of chemistry when related to essential oils. By Martin Watt Two articles written for 'Aromatherapy Times' -the I.F.A. journal-UK. Spring 2005. V.1. No.64. pp7-8. Summer 2005. V.1. No.65. pp 8-9. Part 1 of 2. For years I have been saying that aromatherapists do not need a detailed knowledge of organic chemistry beca...