PDF Download - EO Safety - Quick Reference

[Zany_in_CO]

Was this contraindication list compiled from the IFRA standards?

I don't know. Maybe the OP knows the answer to that question.

The OP (me) is sorry the link to the website is no longer available. Frann, the creator of the PDF file, was essentially an herbalist and, judging from her picture, older than dirt... and probably practicing herbalism longer than that. On that basis, I presume her information pre-dates IFRA.

 

[Aromasuzie]

I don't know. Maybe the OP knows the answer to that question. As I said I prefer to reference IFRA.


I agree and never suggested otherwise.


Of course not, and to my recollection I have not suggested that you do. What I said was that for me, I choose to avoid EOs that are contraindicated for certain groups (pregnant women, children) in products for those groups because for me I feel that is best practice. I am speaking for myself. Personally, I'd rather err on the side of being over cautious than to err on the side of causing damage when it comes to certain groups of people and personal care products.



Perhaps miniscule if used properly and applied to intact skin. Perhaps not if used improperly or applied to damaged skin or mucous membranes. Remember my background is nursing and I have seen lots of non-intact skin and mucous membranes in my career, so I know for a fact that lots of people apply personal care products to less than healthy skin. It happens all the time.


Where 'we' is referencing the authors, correct? Or does he/ or do they refer to the the industry as a whole? Not that it matters, I get the point.

But I would like to point out that EOs are sometime or even frequently used as pharmaceuticals. In our discussion, no they are not, but in some cases they are and in fact in some cosmetics they are, which makes those cosmetics drugs (i.e.; pharmaceuticals), per FDA standards in the US and I believe in some other countries as well.

@Aromasuzie I'm curious about bitter almond EO. Some suppliers won't sell it without diluting 50/50 with sweet almond. Care to comment?

Hi Zany,

From my understanding, Unrectified Bitter Almond Oil is not commercially available due to the "Hydrocyanic acid " content (=prussic acid,=hydrogen cyanide) as it's highly toxic.

What you can purchase is a rectified bitter almond oil FFPA (free from prussic acid) and this is considered non toxic. One of the issues with bitter almond is that it can tend to oxidise to form benzoic acid, which can be skin irritating. Does your supplier mention that its unrectified? I understand that rectified bitter almond oil can be used in the flavouring industry.

As bitter almond has no value to the aromatherapy industry, I've not come across it so The information I've given you comes from the book "Essential Oil Safety, A guide for health care professionals" by Robert Tisserand and Tony Balacs.

From an interest point of view, have you used this oil, and if so, what do you use it for?

 

[Zany_in_CO]

From an interest point of view, have you used this oil, and if so, what do you use it for?

Yes, I have some that I purchased many moons ago before the rectified was available. I cut it with 50% sweet almond oil and use it in a blend for cuticle balm. Also did 20% in ethanol as almond extract used as food flavoring i.e. coconut macaroons.

I only recently became aware of its toxic nature, i.e., as little as 9 ml is lethal if ingested... if I remember correctly. I can't find the source of that information. I found prussic acid free here:

Eden Botanicals
"Our Bitter Almond essential oil is steam distilled from the crushed and pressed kernels of the apricot fruit1 (it can also be extracted from the kernels of cherries, plums and peaches2), then rectified to remove the toxic prussic acid."

Interesting -- no almonds, haha.

My concern: I'm lactose intolerant so I drink almond milk which is essentially almonds + distilled water. I'm wondering if the almonds in almond milk can have adverse effect over time. ???

Another interest: I make mostly liquid soap and rarely make hard bars these days. In a discussion on another thread, it was brought to my attention that some natural brands of shampoo are using bitter almond essential oil as a preservative but passing it as "fragrance" on the ingredient list. That's the main thing I'm interested in. I've been unable to find any information about bitter almond essential oil used as a preservative.

 

[Jackie Tobey]

Sadly, the site is no longer active. Try this link below or I have the PDF if anyone wants a copy, PM me.

EO-safetyref.pdf

Thank you!