Skin Reaction to Essential Oils

• Video with Dr. Scott

• http://bit.ly/1CrAM1f

Essential Oils for

Emotional Support

Carrie Wagner, M. Ed.Knoxville Reflexology

Group, Inc.865-588-1911

How do essential oils work?

• Through our nasal passages as we inhale them:

• •olfactory bulb –limbic system of the brain –mood

• •lungs –bloodstream

LavenderMagnified detail of lower

leaf surface showing secretory gland

Best Essential Oils to use For Emotional Support

• Bergamot• Cassia• Citrus Family

– Grapefruit– Lemon– Mandarin– Orange

• Eucalyptus• Frankincense• Helichrysum• Jasmine• Lavender• Lemongrass• Melissa• Patchouli• Rosemary• Sandalwood

My Four Favorites

• 3rd Party Test Results for Peppermint Essential Oil

• Posted on October 13, 2013 by Lea Harris, Certified Aroma therapist

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• A case example of the importance of a company performing its own 3rd party testing

• Here is a great example from Karen, owner of Aromatics International, on the importance of a company doing their own 3rd party testing:

• “There was an instance last year where we received Cinnamon Bark and Cinnamon Leaf from a well-known distiller. These were both new oils for us and we know the distiller well. When the GC/MS reports came back, we realized that the Cinnamon Bark had been labeled as a Cinnamon Leaf. In contacting the distiller, they were horrified to learn that they had mislabeled the product in their warehouse where they had distilled. It was an innocent mistake that could have had really bad results.”

• Because of Karen’s due diligence, she was able to catch an innocent mistake of mislabeling by her supplier. For those who don’t realize the significance, Cinnamon Bark is a potential skin allergen with a max dermal use level of 0.07% (source is Robert Tisserand‘s book, Essential Oil Safety, 2nd edition, page 248). Cinnamon Leaf is the preferred choice for topical applications. It still has a topical maximum of 0.6% for skin safety, but that’s 10 times more than Cinnamon Bark.

•

What GC/MS tests can tell us?• The bottle says “Basil” – but do we know which kind? Many

companies don’t even provide a Latin name, much less a chemo type (if applicable to the essential oil), to indicate exactly what we are getting. Is it the Basil chemo type estragole, with a dermal limit of .1% due to it being potentially carcinogenic? Or perhaps the linalool chemo type with a 3.3% dermal limit? It pays to know.

• Read: Latin Names Do Matter, and The Importance of Knowing Chemo types.

• Beyond the basics of Latin name and chemo type, we need to see GC/MS tests to verify the contents of the bottle. Even knowing the Latin name and chemo type, we need to know exactly how much linalool does Lavender have, anyways. Is it on the low end of the scale? Drought, heavy rain, soil conditions, and much more effects the constituent percentages (read more: Determining Essential Oil Quality). Running a GC/MS test on a batch received from a supplier is the norm for a company who wants to provide a reliable essential oil for their customer.

• Although some companies will provide a GC/MS report if you ask for them, many times they are not current to the batch available for purchase. An old GC/MS that does not reflect the current bottles for sale is not going to do much good.

• As mentioned above, many factors influence the constituents of an essential oil, and it should be standard process to GC/MS test each new batch, so variations can be worked around.

• One company who provides current GC/MS reports right on their website, as well as archives of GC/MS reports – Aromatics International. When I asked Karen, the owner, why she does this, this was her response:

The ISO Standards Used• The International Organization for Standardization (ISO) – sets

standards in many industries. There are ISO standards for many (though not all) essential oils and they exist to help traders determine quality. “NF T 75-210:2008” referenced in the report uses the same standards as the ISO.

• ISO has two standards for peppermint oil. One for peppermint grown in the USA, and one for peppermint grown in the rest of the world. According to Robert Tisserand:

• “US-grown peppermint is regarded as premium quality oil, and generally sells for higher prices.”

• Although you can purchase the ISO standards for Peppermint essential oil here, it is also listed, in Robert Tisserand’s book, Essential Oil Safety. I have his new edition right in front of me, and there is an ISO standard for US Peppermint essential oil, and an ISO standard for non-US Peppermint essential oil, which were updated in 2006.

• According to D Gary Young (Essential Oils Integrative Medical Guide p18, Essential Science Publishing 2006),

• “ISO…guidelines help buyers differentiate between a high quality essential oil and lower grade oil with a similar chemical makeup and fragrance.”

• In setting these standards, a committee looks very carefully at a large number of gas chromatograph profiles for an essential oil, and selects a few key components based on both their importance and uniqueness. Each of these is given a maximum and minimum range. If a test sample does not contain all of the key components within that range, it does not meet the ISO standard.

• For an explanation about the ISO standard from Tony Larkman, CEO of The Australian Tea Tree Industry Association (ATTIA Ltd) please read: The ISO Standard and Why I like It.

•

Chemist• We hired chemist Daniel Dantin, from

Sarl Pyrenessences Analyses (the same lab who provided our 3rd party analyses for Tea Tree) to analyze the thirteen results from twelve different companies. Daniel Dantin is a world-recognized chemist, and many companies in the aromatherapy world send their essential oils to him for expert testing. Mr. Dantin is known for his professionalism and expertise, as well as his reasonable fees for analyses.

• In the words of Marge Clark (Nature’s Gift):

• “[Daniel is] one of the most highly regarded analysts in the industry, who is known for his impartiality.”

• Sarl Pyrenessences is ISO certified.

Essential Oil Expert• Robert Tisserand, world-renowned

expert in aromatherapy and essential oils, to weigh in with his expert opinion and help us understand the meaning of the analyses provided by our 3rd party lab results.

• Robert Tisserand is the author of The Art of Aromatherapy, the first book in English on the subject of aromatherapy. He is a well-known expert in aromatherapy and essential oils research, gives regular seminars, and has literally written the book on essential oil safety – aptly named Essential Oil Safety. I could keep listing his achievements, but we don’t have the space!

Peppermint Essential Oil Official 3rd Party Test Results…

• The various bottles of Peppermint essential oil were mailed to the Sarl Pyrenessences Analyses lab in France. These bottles were shipped in their original sealed and labeled bottles, analyzed via GC/MS, and the results were e-mailed to me last Monday (October 7th, 2013).

• As a courtesy, I notified the 12 companies the same day, and attached a PDF with their test results, giving them an opportunity to respond before I published the results here on LAEO.

• After the reactions of some companies, we developed our Dispute Policy, notified all the companies of it, and gave them another two days to decide how to respond.

• In alphabetical order, here you will find a list of the companies who were tested, the exact comments and conclusions off the Sarl Pyrenessences Analyses lab report (with a link to the pdf of the report), comments by our Expert on essential oils, Robert Tisserand, as well as a comment by the companies themselves (if they chose to provide us with one).

• (I want to point out that the “trans-Thyuanol” referred to in the quotes from the chemist is known also by another name: “trans-sabinene hydrate” – which is how it is listed in the ISO standards)

12 companies tested:• Bulk Apothecary• doTERRA• Eden’s Garden• Essential Oil Exchange• Heritage• Mountain Rose Herbs• Nature’s Gift• NOW• NYR Organics• Scena Essentials• Spark Naturals• Young Living