Are the Essential Oils you're Getting Pure?

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Are the Essential Oils you're Getting Pure? Do you Know the Difference? By Tabania Crockett "And on the banks, on both sides of the river, there will grow all kinds of trees for food. Their fruit will be for food and their leaves for healing." Ezekiel 47:12 When I first became interested in essential oils, I thought they were a novelty with a charming smell, like incense. I had no idea I was about to embark on a life changing experience. This article concerns the aspect of essential oils that has become most significant to me, their purity. Pick up any book on aromatherapy and you can read about the effect of pure essential oils on one's physical, emotional, and spiritual well being. One of the causes of dis-ease is the inability of nutrients to penetrate the cell walls. By penetrating the cell walls, pure essential oils transport nutrients and oxygen to the cells -- nourishing, cleansing, detoxifying, increasing blood circulation, mobilizing the body's own self-healing powers. But only PURE essential oils effectively start the body on this health enhancing journey. Many with whom I discuss essential oils comment that "everyone says their oils are pure." This skepticism caused me to question what "pure" means to essential oil producers. I got some pretty shocking answers while researching this article. Few of the above mentioned aromatherapy books discuss purity in more than a cursory manner. Some define "pure" essential oils as those oils without carrier oils or other essential oils added. Another source warned of "adulterated" oils, but it, too, did nothing more than imply that "adulteration" simply means other essential oils have been added. With so much emphasis on the addition of oils, I was more than a little surprised to find these books barely discussed the effect of chemical additives, which DESTROY the therapeutic properties of essential oils. Pure essential oils have very complex molecular structures; at present, more than 200 natural chemical constituents have been identified. A very few of the naturally occurring chemical constituents found in essential oils include flavonoids, which increase blood flow and cellular oxygenation; terpenes, which help detoxify the body; phenols, which are antibacterial and antiseptic; and ketones, which stimulate cell and tissue regeneration. Their unique molecular structure gives essential oils the ability to penetrate cell walls to transport oxygen, nutrients, and the above mentioned chemical constituents, and so much more. Chemical additives fracture the molecular structure of essential oils, altering their chemical constituents, thus destroying their therapeutic properties. And, of course, the chemicals themselves may present a health risk. If authors of "alternative health" books don't consider chemical additives, no wonder most producers feel justified in calling their essential oils pure. I flatly reject any suggestion that "pure" essential oils can possibly contain chemical additives. Webster's Desk Dictionary of the English Language, 1990, defines pure as "free from ANYTHING of a different, inferior, or contaminating kind." (Emphasis added.) The American Heritage Dictionary, Third Edition, defines pure as "free from adulterants or impurities." So to me pure, unadulterated essential oils are essential oils containing NO chemical additives. Period. Using that standard, few essential oils sold in the world qualify. In fact many essential oils on the market - yes, including those sold in health food stores - are chemical-laden, highly adulterated, and, therefore, have no therapeutic properties. Indeed, according to an independent laboratory in California, Flora Research, MOST essential oils sold are either synthetic or adulterated with chemical additives. How Chemicals Get Into Essential Oils: Chemicals get into essential oils in several different ways. Most commonly producers extend the oils by simply adding alcohol, propylene glycol, or acetate to the distilled essential oil. Some oil producers do not actually add chemicals to their oils. Instead, they inject chemical solvents into the water in their boilers during the distillation process, increasing output by about18%. Imagine what happens to essential oils when chemicals are added to water, which is boiled into steam and then forced into plants to extract their oil. The very process of forcing chemically-treated steam into the plants fractures the molecular structure of the essential oils. It also seems impossible for an essential oil extracted through this method to avoid containing at least SOME of these chemical additives. Most surprising was the notion of purity implicit in a book authored by the Research Chair of the International Federation of Aromatherapists in London. She acknowledges that "for effective therapeutic use it is crucial that only pure essential oils be used." Yet, this author expressly included oils produced by solvent extraction on her list of acceptable "pure" essential oils. With the solvent extraction process essential oils are extracted by immersing plants in chemical solvents, such as hexane, petroleum benzine, ether, or carbon tetrachloride. These solvents are later removed by vacuum distillation. But . . . like the solvent injection steam distillation process, do you think it is possible to completely eliminate all toxic residue from oils extracted by immersing plants in toxic chemicals? These extraction processes both destroy essential oils' therapeutic properties and bring their own health risks from the residual chemical additives which remain in the essential oils they produce. Why would anyone add chemicals to nature's oldest therapeutic substance? Probably a combination ofignorance and profit. Depending on the plant, it takes from 250 pounds to several tons of plants to produce a SINGLE pound of essential oil. It takes about 250 pounds of lavender to produce a pound of pure lavender oil, 1,000 pounds of jasmine for 1 pound of pure jasmine oil, and several TONS of rose petals to produce a pound of pure rose oil. As you might imagine, producers can dramatically extend their profit margin by extending the oils. The volume of lavender oil shipped from France is 100 TIMES the volume grown and distilled there! This suggests that 99% of all lavender oil coming from France has been extended, adulterated with chemical additives. I am not suggesting these oil producers deliberately put profit above health considerations. I seriously doubt most producers have given it much thought, and consumers have given them no reason to. The common feature of each extraction method described above is that it reduces cost and produces a greater volume of oils. Essential oils are profitable in this "new age" era, so they need to produce as much volume as possible. Few essential oil consumers know enough to question the source and purity of the oils. This is particularly true in the United States, where we tend to consider price above any other consideration. In this environment, most producers simply need not concern themselves with producing chemical free oils. Other Factors Effect The Therapeutic Value Of Essential Oils Temperature, pressure and time must be precisely monitored to produce a complete essential oil, one retaining its natural chemical constituents. Distillation at lower temperatures and low pressure is the preferred method for producing high quality, pure essential oils. Nutritionists tell us not to boil our vegetables because the hot water removes the vitamins and nutrients. Similarly, "boiling" plants to extract their essence destroys many of a plant's fragile constituents, which gives essential oils their therapeutic properties. So keeping the distiller's temperature low is a must. Essential oils MUST be distilled for the proper length of time to release all their active constituents. For example, cypress must be distilled for 24 hours to release all the chemical constituents. Most distilling operations, throughout the world, only distill cypress one hour and 15 minutes. Similarly, lavender does not produce all its therapeutically effective substances unless it is distilled for one hour and 30 minutes; but most lavender is distilled for only 15 minutes! Three-quarters of the volume is extracted during the first quarter of the distillation process. Many producers end the process there because the increased time does not significantly increase the volume. Time is "only" a crucial factor to extracting the plant's therapeutic properties. Another factor in the purity of the oils is the land on which the plants are grown. Inexpensive essential oils are usually produced by large farm operations that use chemical fertilizers and pesticides. Pesticides are oil-soluble and their residue remains in essential oils extracted from pesticide-treated plants. Some of the lavendin grown in Russia and China (used to make much of the so-called lavender oil sold around the world) actually contains radioactive isotopes because of the nuclear fallout from Chernobyl. Imagine using an essential oil extracted from plants containing radioactive isotopes AND to which chemicals have been added to extend the oil -- synthetic linolol acetate to improve the fragrance, and propylene glycol to increase the volume! According to Bio/Tech News, Young Living Essential Oils, Inc. is the only MAJOR essential oil producer in the entire United States whose products are steam distilled, at low temperatures and low pressure, and extracted without chemicals of any kind. The very nature of the words "essential oils" speak volumes. They are the vitality, the essence, the energy of plants. Pure essential oils will penetrate cell walls, affecting not just the skin, but the whole person - both physically and psychologically. They nourish, cleanse, detoxify, increase blood circulation, and support many bodily functions. Please do not be afraid to ask questions about the origins, extraction process, and quality of any essential oil you purchase. Insist on essential oils extracted from organically grown plants, with no chemicals in the extraction process, at the proper temperature and pressure, for the appropriate length of time. If we remain ignorant and continue to emphasize price instead of quality, essential oils will indeed be nothing more than a charming novelty item. About The Author - Tabania L. Crockett has more than 20 years experience in workers' compensation claims, as both a claims handler and an attorney. She is now a small business owner and a distributor of Young Living Essential Oils.