Birch Natural mistake

[SoapDaddy70]

I made my first shave soap tonight and i put a couple of drops of Birch Natural essential oil and had no idea it was toxic.It was from a sample vial i had from Appalachian Valley Natural products. The recipe contained 500g of oil. The sample vial contains .3ml. i think it was literally 2 or 3 drops of it. Should i be concerned?

 

[Nona'sFarm]

To be safe, I definitely wouldn't give or sell that soap. If you really want to use it, you need to find out at what concentration it is toxic. Not sure if the maker has that information, poison control or who you contact. I wouldn't shave with it until you know the answer. When one shaves, small nicks can occur and a minute amount would be exposed to the blood stream.
I am a belt and suspenders kind of person when it comes to allergens and toxins. So if it was me, I wouldn't use it, but probably play with it with my shaving brush to see how it acted, just in case I could learn anything regarding sudsing, etc. Then I would properly dispose of it. Is your health really worth placing a toxin on your skin?
Just curious, how did you determine it was toxic? When it comes to EOs and FOs I am super careful to get them from reputable soap suppliers and not use more than the recommended amount. But in my much younger days I probably would have been a little less careful, not realizing the potential dangers.

 

[DeeAnna]

No, I would not be concerned about that tiny little bit. The max recommended dermal (skin) use level for sweet birch EO is around 2.5% according to Essential Oil Safety, Tisserand and Roberts, 2nd ed. It's not recommended for internal use. It's also not recommended for use by pregnant women. All in all, I have chosen to not use it at all, but that's my personal choice. I have occasionally used skin balms with this EO in them, and think infrequent, spot use is fine.

Birch EO contains a high % of methyl salicylate, which is an anticoagulant. Wintergreen EO is another one with a high % of salicylate, but we use small amounts of wintergreen EO to flavor mints and other candies. Wintergreen EO has a max dermal use level of 2.4% according to Essential Oil Safety.

You would want to avoid using any EOs high in salicylate when also using any kind of anticoagulant drug such as aspirin or blood thinner medication or if you bleed or bruise easily for whatever reason or if you have recently had surgery.

Most of the horror stories about this EO happen when people use an excessive amount of the EO on their skin for a long time or choose to take it internally. EOs with high levels of salicylate often used in salves used for soothing sore muscles, and some people become compulsive about using warming/soothing skin balms as other people are about using lip balms every few minutes. Other people get into serious trouble when they ingest the EO or use the EO while also taking other preparations or medications that inhibit blood clotting.

 

[ResolvableOwl]

Birch EO contains a high % of methyl salicylate

Methyl salicylate is not CP stable, and EOs with methyl salicylate as a main constituent will be attacked by lye (methyl salicylate + NaOH → sodium salicylate + methanol).
I. e., these oils are likely not only toxic, but also lose/alter their aroma in weird ways.

 

[SoapDaddy70]

No, I would not be concerned about that tiny little bit. The max recommended dermal (skin) use level for sweet birch EO is around 2.5% according to Essential Oil Safety, Tisserand and Roberts, 2nd ed. It's not recommended for internal use. It's also not recommended for use by pregnant women. All in all, I have chosen to not use it at all, but that's my personal choice. I have occasionally used skin balms with this EO in them, and think infrequent, spot use is fine.

Birch EO contains a high % of methyl salicylate, which is an anticoagulant. Wintergreen EO is another one with a high % of salicylate, but we use small amounts of wintergreen EO to flavor mints and other candies. Wintergreen EO has a max dermal use level of 2.4% according to Essential Oil Safety.

You would want to avoid using any EOs high in salicylate when also using any kind of anticoagulant drug such as aspirin or blood thinner medication or if you bleed or bruise easily for whatever reason or if you have recently had surgery.

Most of the horror stories about this EO happen when people use an excessive amount of the EO on their skin for a long time or choose to take it internally. EOs with high levels of salicylate often used in salves used for soothing sore muscles, and some people become compulsive about using warming/soothing skin balms as other people are about using lip balms every few minutes. Other people get into serious trouble when they ingest the EO or use the EO while also taking other preparations or medications that inhibit blood clotting.

Thanks @DeeAnna for the response. I am embarrassed that I even used it without researching safe usage rate first. I am usually very thorough about stuff like that. It was literally 3 or 4 drops which probably works out to be fractions of a percent. To be honest I think it’s kind of silly to send a sample of an EO that is toxic to a customer without some sort of warning. I know it’s in big bold letters when you go on their site but you would think the samples they send customers should be ones that skew towards being safer to use.