Essential Oil Quality
Safety is an issue Lavender Notes will revisit many times I am sure. Essential oils are, quite simply, unregulated, plant-based pharmaceuticals. As such, people are given the freedom to treat their own health issues (or seek the assistance of someone other than their physician), but with freedom always comes danger. In the case of essential oils, the danger can come with misuse, misinformation, improper labeling, and/or poor quality.
In this entry, we will discuss quality.
First it is important to remember what an essential oil is. A basic working definition is a highly concentrated, hydrophobic (for the most part), volatile, aromatic plant extract. Yet when you walk down the aisles of gift shops, health food stores, or home decorating places, "aromatic" is the only aspect of aromatherapy that most products adhere to. This is why sourcing is so important. You can not purchase essential oils for therapeutic use from just anywhere, and let me expound on why.
1. Because essential oils are not regulated by the FDA, there are no standards. A bottle that says "Lavender Essential Oil" might contain adulterants or diluents -- substances that are man-made or not naturally occurring in the plant (or its oil) that are added to make an oil cheaper or to smell stronger. Any adulterated or diluted essential oil can not be used therapeutically. Doing so can result in serious injury. An example is Sweet Fennel, which can be adulterated with synthetically produced anethole (anethole is a chemical constituent of Anise Seed); this increases Fennel's familiar licorice smell, but ruins its therapeutic value.
2. Some essential oils can become toxic over time with exposure to air or water. A reputable supplier knows this and not only will give you the bottling date, but ensure the oil was handled correctly. Tea Tree is an example of an oil whose exposure to air must be minimized.
3. Due to the volatility of essential oils, it is imperative they not be contaminated with water, a tricky proposition in steam distillation. Additionally, essential oils must not be exposed to light or heat. Just as you store your oils and oil blends in amber glass containers in cool dark places, you want your supplier to do the same. Never purchase oils from a supplier who can not give you a bottling date, or shelves essential oils in plastic or clear glass, or lets them sit in direct sunlight. A corollary to this is not to purchase oils from suppliers you can't visit. It does no good to spend $18 on a tiny vial of Immortelle only for it to lose its effectiveness in a one-week trip over hundreds of miles.
4. Every essential oil is comprised of dozens (if not hundreds) of chemical constituents. The percentage of these chemical constituents vary according to where the plants were grown, how and when they were harvested, how they were distilled, etc. Any supplier of therapeutic-grade essential oils should be able to provide you with lab work showing the chemical breakdown of the batch of oil you are purchasing.
5. Several essential oils come in variations, known as chemotypes, where the oil is distilled differently to achieve a specific chemical profile. A common example is Thyme oil, which is available in five or six different chemotype variations. The thymol (or Red) chemotype contains a high percentage of the phenol, thymol. Thymol is excellent for fighting bacterial infections and clearing up the lungs, but it has a low therapeutic margin (it doesn't take much to be toxic). This makes the thymol chemotype inappropriate for use with pregnant or breastfeeding women, children or the elderly. An alternative is the linalol chemotype, which contains negligible amounts of thymol and carvacrol, but high amounts of linalol, a much safer alcohol. A good supplier knows all about chemotypes and can assist you in picking out the one most appropriate to your needs.
6. Different parts of some plants produce oils in varying qualities. An example is cinnamon, which produces oil from both its bark and its leaf. Each are different oils, and a reputable supplier will be able to tell you which parts of the plant are used in distillation.
7. Essential oils are highly concentrated, and therefore it is imperative your oils are wildcrafted (harvested from the wild) or farmed from organic crops. Remember that anything labeled "organic" must say through what agency the organic certification was obtained (e.g., Oregon Tilth).
8. How were your essential oils extracted from the plant? Citrus oils (bergamot, orange, lemon, grapefruit) should be expeller-pressed (a fancy way of saying the skin was squeezed). All other oils should be steam distilled. There are ways of extracting essential oils using chemicals; I do not recommend these oils for therapeutic use.
As you can see, purchasing and using essential oils is more than just trotting down to the health food store. It cannot be stressed enough that marketing terms like "natural," "all natural," and "aromatherapy" are unregulated terms and truly mean nothing. With essential oils (as with any healthcare-related product), your ability to be a knowledgeable, questioning and skeptical consumer is of the utmost importance. After all, it's your health.
The essential oil suppliers listed as links in the top right of this page are suppliers I personally use and trust. Two of the three (Mountain Rose Herbs and Floracopeia) are local to me (within two hours' drive), are able to provide chemical breakdowns on request, and their staff have extensive aromatherapy backgrounds. The third, Rivendell Aromatics, is a farm located about 500 miles away, and I enjoy purchasing directly from the farmer/distiller. I provide them as links only because I can stand behind their product.
If the homework involved in choosing an essential oil seems overwhelming, find a Registered Aromatherapist. He or she will already have established working relationships with farmers, distillers and suppliers; they will know which chemotypes to use and how to correctly store their oils. The Aromatherapy Registration Council is the organization in the U.S. that administers the registration exam, and their website will lead you to a Registered Aromatherapist.
As always, I wish you good health.
In this entry, we will discuss quality.
First it is important to remember what an essential oil is. A basic working definition is a highly concentrated, hydrophobic (for the most part), volatile, aromatic plant extract. Yet when you walk down the aisles of gift shops, health food stores, or home decorating places, "aromatic" is the only aspect of aromatherapy that most products adhere to. This is why sourcing is so important. You can not purchase essential oils for therapeutic use from just anywhere, and let me expound on why.
1. Because essential oils are not regulated by the FDA, there are no standards. A bottle that says "Lavender Essential Oil" might contain adulterants or diluents -- substances that are man-made or not naturally occurring in the plant (or its oil) that are added to make an oil cheaper or to smell stronger. Any adulterated or diluted essential oil can not be used therapeutically. Doing so can result in serious injury. An example is Sweet Fennel, which can be adulterated with synthetically produced anethole (anethole is a chemical constituent of Anise Seed); this increases Fennel's familiar licorice smell, but ruins its therapeutic value.
2. Some essential oils can become toxic over time with exposure to air or water. A reputable supplier knows this and not only will give you the bottling date, but ensure the oil was handled correctly. Tea Tree is an example of an oil whose exposure to air must be minimized.
3. Due to the volatility of essential oils, it is imperative they not be contaminated with water, a tricky proposition in steam distillation. Additionally, essential oils must not be exposed to light or heat. Just as you store your oils and oil blends in amber glass containers in cool dark places, you want your supplier to do the same. Never purchase oils from a supplier who can not give you a bottling date, or shelves essential oils in plastic or clear glass, or lets them sit in direct sunlight. A corollary to this is not to purchase oils from suppliers you can't visit. It does no good to spend $18 on a tiny vial of Immortelle only for it to lose its effectiveness in a one-week trip over hundreds of miles.
4. Every essential oil is comprised of dozens (if not hundreds) of chemical constituents. The percentage of these chemical constituents vary according to where the plants were grown, how and when they were harvested, how they were distilled, etc. Any supplier of therapeutic-grade essential oils should be able to provide you with lab work showing the chemical breakdown of the batch of oil you are purchasing.
5. Several essential oils come in variations, known as chemotypes, where the oil is distilled differently to achieve a specific chemical profile. A common example is Thyme oil, which is available in five or six different chemotype variations. The thymol (or Red) chemotype contains a high percentage of the phenol, thymol. Thymol is excellent for fighting bacterial infections and clearing up the lungs, but it has a low therapeutic margin (it doesn't take much to be toxic). This makes the thymol chemotype inappropriate for use with pregnant or breastfeeding women, children or the elderly. An alternative is the linalol chemotype, which contains negligible amounts of thymol and carvacrol, but high amounts of linalol, a much safer alcohol. A good supplier knows all about chemotypes and can assist you in picking out the one most appropriate to your needs.
6. Different parts of some plants produce oils in varying qualities. An example is cinnamon, which produces oil from both its bark and its leaf. Each are different oils, and a reputable supplier will be able to tell you which parts of the plant are used in distillation.
7. Essential oils are highly concentrated, and therefore it is imperative your oils are wildcrafted (harvested from the wild) or farmed from organic crops. Remember that anything labeled "organic" must say through what agency the organic certification was obtained (e.g., Oregon Tilth).
8. How were your essential oils extracted from the plant? Citrus oils (bergamot, orange, lemon, grapefruit) should be expeller-pressed (a fancy way of saying the skin was squeezed). All other oils should be steam distilled. There are ways of extracting essential oils using chemicals; I do not recommend these oils for therapeutic use.
As you can see, purchasing and using essential oils is more than just trotting down to the health food store. It cannot be stressed enough that marketing terms like "natural," "all natural," and "aromatherapy" are unregulated terms and truly mean nothing. With essential oils (as with any healthcare-related product), your ability to be a knowledgeable, questioning and skeptical consumer is of the utmost importance. After all, it's your health.
The essential oil suppliers listed as links in the top right of this page are suppliers I personally use and trust. Two of the three (Mountain Rose Herbs and Floracopeia) are local to me (within two hours' drive), are able to provide chemical breakdowns on request, and their staff have extensive aromatherapy backgrounds. The third, Rivendell Aromatics, is a farm located about 500 miles away, and I enjoy purchasing directly from the farmer/distiller. I provide them as links only because I can stand behind their product.
If the homework involved in choosing an essential oil seems overwhelming, find a Registered Aromatherapist. He or she will already have established working relationships with farmers, distillers and suppliers; they will know which chemotypes to use and how to correctly store their oils. The Aromatherapy Registration Council is the organization in the U.S. that administers the registration exam, and their website will lead you to a Registered Aromatherapist.
As always, I wish you good health.
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