Black Cumin (Nigella sativa) ** Dermal Use

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Hi Anya,

 

Your input is appreciated .. but I must comment to ensure that those who

might not take the time to follow through and check out the URLs below,

URLs that may appear to be informative .. are not misinformed on safety

aspects for dermal application .. which is the discussion at hand. The

URLs listed below are informative but they have not one thing to do with

dermal use of Nigella sativa .. nor do they provide any information or

even suggestion of it being harmful .. they just contain a lot of info.

 

> Butch, Asira

> You might want to reconsider using BC oil topically...

 

When I see some credible information to support it being harmful, I'll

not only reconsider its use .. but reconsider selling it at all .. but

I'm sure that is never going to be the case. Nigella sativa is an oil I

have given a lot of time and effort checking with some real experts on

Nigella, none of which live in the West, for the last seven years.

 

So .. below are my personal opinions on the URLs presented .. and I'd

welcome different opinions on this.

 

http://www.heilkun.de/science/1997/9197967.htm

 

This URL has no substance .. its but a heading and PERHAPS a report of

one male having experienced contact dermatitis from the plant or oil

that is the title of the page .. Nigella sativa. But it seems generic

and the last two categories are Plant Extracts and Oils, Volatile ..

which in the case of Nigella .. its the former .. so I miss the value.

 

http://www.egora.fr/Tox-In/TOXIANGL/PROTOCOL/PLANTES/INDEXDER/INDEXJN.HTM

 

This one .. it has even less meaning to me. Its but a laundry list of

plants that are supposed to have been " Responsible " for skin reactions.

Covering plants J through N .. and I see it starts with Jasmine and then

Lavender and works down from there. But when one clicks on one of the

reactions .. the same generic description of the reaction pops up.

 

If we click to the Main Page of this URL .. we find an index of plants

and a laundry list of possible problems .. again, very generic and one

that can be found in most any novel on AT or EOs .. and when we click on

Plants and Dermatitis we go to Plant Induced Skin Reactions and find the

biggest CYA statement yet .. a statement that is very elementary and has

very little meaning, " Skin reactions may occur after direct or indirect

contact with the plant or plant extract (cosmetics etc..) " Such a CYA

statement can be made for ANY plant known to mankind .. bar NONE!

 

Without knowing what this is .. what this list means and what they are

trying to tell us other than " It's possible for some folks to have skin

reactions to some plants sometimes " .. which is how I read it .. then I

don't see where this should make folks want to reconsider using Nigella.

 

http://www.caravanetresor.com/holy_pharmacy.htm

 

This Commercial URL is rather interesting. And its a marketing gimick.

I see under Black Cumin (they mispelled Cumin) where .. " At least one

case of dermatitis has been reported from contact with the oil of black

cummin.(22) " .. and that's nice info .. but I don't see where it would

be sufficient to cause folks to reconsider dermal use of the oil because

there is not ONE PLANT or ONE OIL in existence that has not caused SOME

PEOPLE with sensitive skin to experience contact dermatitis .. or some

form of irritation. Even touching many berries or shellfish or commonly

eaten foods can do this .. and some folks are allergic .. which is to me

as good a word as we can use to describe why 1 in 10,000 folks have a

problem with a particular substance .. to life in general. But there is

no data to be found ANYWHERE here that lists Nigella sativa as a common

irritant .. or as an oil that commonly causes contact dermatitus .. and

it is NOT a known sensitizer.

 

Click on Olive Oil .. you'll see their misinformation on production and

refinement. I read this as I read the Young Living advertisements ..

our EO are finer than others because humma-humma and schuffle-schuffle.

 

Click on Black Seed .. and it takes you to Sweet Sunnah. Understand

that this is an Islamic site .. and it will only take you to Islamic

sellers. I know the lady who runs Sweet Sunnah .. name is Nurah .. and

a nice lady she is. Her products are quality products. But .. that's

not the point of my tit-for-tat in our Devil's Advocate play here. ;-p

 

http://strimbeck.faculty.jsc.vsc.edu/FamilyPages/Ranunculaceae/Ranunculaceae.htm

 

This URL discusses the Family Ranunculaceae .. which by the way .. is a

Genus of OVER 400 species of annuals, biennals, and mainly decidous,

sometimes evergreen, perennials. Its commonly called the Buttercup or

Crowfoot Family .. generally plants of this Family are found around the

Northern Hemisphere of the planet.

 

Nigella is one of those over 400 species. But I doubt if I can find ONE

Family of plants in existence that does not have some dangerous species

as well as some valuable therapeutic species. And we don't have to look

for Families with 400 members to find this .. we can find it in Families

with but 25 members .. like Mentha .. the Mints. And many others.

 

If I want to use URLs are references .. I can add:

 

http://www.slip.net/~mcdavis/dbas9697/98638377.htm Against Cancer

 

http://www.planetherbs.com/articles/nigella.html Many Valuable Uses

 

http://www.botanical.com/botanical/mgmh/f/fenflo04.html Mrs. Grieve

 

http://fisher.bio.umb.edu/pages/fatimah/fatimah.htm

This one has some fair info .. recommend you click on Conclusions

 

http://www.botany.com/nigella.html

The old fall-back on it Botany.com

 

My vigor in presenting the other side to this subject is not due to me

wanting to be a disagreeable rascal .. but rather it has to do with my

credibility .. that is important to me. If I am suggesting folks use an

oil on their skin that is harmful, then I'm just another Gary Young.

 

The main point is .. Nigella sativa is NOT a known irritant, NOT an oil

that commonly causes contact dermatitis .. anymore than is Lavender, and

it is NOT an oil that is known to cause sensitization .. in fact, I've

never heard of anyone having a negative experience with Nigella sativa

and it is a plant that has been cultivated and used in this part of the

world for thousands or years .. and still commonly in use today.

 

To say that we should reconsider might be wise except that we are all in

the game of using plant extracts .. so we need to identify those that

are harmful vs those that someone, sometime, has had a problem with. I

see this as no different than saying we should reconsider air travel as

its a known fact that some folks have died while riding airplanes.

 

I AM NOT cavalier when it comes to safe use of essential oils. I don't

sell ONE essential oil that is a known sensitizer or irritant. After a

few years of resistence in the face of demands, I did agree to offer

Bergamot .. and I offer safety information to every buyer .. same as I

do with the very helpful but very toxic Pennyroyal .. a plant that has

far more benefits than danger .. we just don't ingest it.

 

If someone can show me that Nigella sativa is an oil that folks should

be wary of using dermally, I will stop offering it. But I believe that

there is no such information available in the entire world.

 

IF folks want to have at their fingertips the ONLY reference manual I'm

aware of showing scientifically tested safe levels of dilution of oils

regarding irritation, photo-sensitization, sensitization and toxicity,

that safety manual is " Plant Aromatics " . This is a compilation of data

researched over many years by Martin Watt, Cert. Phyt. Medical Herbalist

& Essential Oil Educator. The primary source of this research was the

RIFM. (Research Institute for Fragrance Materials) and their sister

organisation the IFRA. (International Fragrance Research Association).

 

I will say that Nigella sativa is not mentioned in Plant Aromatics ..

and I can only assume that's because there have never been any known

problems with it .. so it was not tested. Its not a volatile oil but it

is used in cosmetics .. so it would be of interest to the RIFM/IFRA.

 

The old edition of Plant Aromatics was $75 .. I have published the new,

revised edition and offer it for $43.90 .. it can now be seen/ordered at

URL http://www.av-at.com/plantaromaticsavnp.html

 

This is NOT an advertisement .. its a public service announcement. Why

not an advertisement? Because there is no competition, therefore, you

need to know the only source to obtain it in North and South America.

 

> Anya

> http://member.newsguy.com/~herblady

> ©

 

Y'all keep smiling, Butch http://www.AV-AT.com