Safe Use of EO - Sensitization

[Guest guest]

At the risk of being attacked here I would like to point out that the

supply review list is for people to post their good and bad experiences

with SUPPLIERS! Not for posting information about eo's and their uses

or FO's and their uses or herbs or supplies in particular etc.

 

Veronica Davidson

<http://www.veronicaslavishlathers.com>

http://www.veronicaslavishlathers.com

<http://www.friendswithms.com> http://www.friendswithms.com

_____

 

 

 

 

[Guest guest]

Hi y'all,

 

This post was NOT ALLOWED to be posted to the Supply Review Group!

 

However .. I can prove that there are MANY posts allowed that praise

companies that are disgusting when it comes to integrity and quality and

honest dealings with the public .. judge for yourself if this post is

too commercial.

 

For your info .. I make less than $8 on every issue of Plant Aromatics

sold .. I pay to have it published by a commercial firm and I also pay

royalties to Martin .. I make more on a sale of a 20 ml bottle of some

of the costly EO. So do you think I really give a rat's butt about

spending time a lot of time promoting Plant Aromatics? Butch

 

 

Mon, 05 Sep 2005 16:16:47 -0700

Butch Owen <Butchbsi

SupplyReview

Safe Use of EO - Sensitization

 

Hi y'all,

 

As a supplier of Essential Oils I would not post this if I did not know

it was true. If I want to sell more oils .. why tell folks to not use

them neat?

 

There is NO essential oil that can be said to be always safe when used

neat. True it is that many are not common irritants or sensitizers ..

but there are many people sensitized to Lavender and Tea Tree .. two

that have come out publicly stating they are sensitized to Lavender are

Marge Clark and Lynda Sorenson .. I know of many others.

 

Patch tests can not detect sensitization .. they can detect irritation.

Why? Because it is extremely rare to have a sensitization reaction upon

first exposure .. it occurs much later .. weeks .. maybe months later.

 

IF we talk about initial sensitizing we're almost always talking about

dermal contact with essential oils or some other chemical .. not the

ingestion or inhalation. Some natural products are known to be potent

sensitizers .. some are occasional sensitizers and some are known as

non sensitizing. But even non sensitizing EO (like Lavandula

angustifolia) can cause sensitization .. its a matter of luck .. bad luck!

 

I have had blond hair (not much, but its blond) all my life .. and now

there's no gray in it .. blonds rarely have gray hair. However, my

mustache has been salt and pepper since I was in my mid-20s .. and for

the last few years the salt increased and the pepper became less

noticeable. For years I used " Just For Men " mustache, sideburn and

beard dressing .. it was easy .. brush it in and in five minutes the

pepper is back.

 

In September 2002 I was using it during my weekly vain attempt to look

younger .. and all of a sudden my face broke out like bees had attacked

me .. burned the crap out of me too. I figured it had already passed

the expiration date cause I had purchased it during my last trip to the

USA .. so I stopped using it as I was about to make another trip ..

which I did two weeks later.

 

I bought some new " Just for Men " .. and when I used it, the same thing

occurred. I had become SENSITIZED to some chemical in that product.

 

Though spice oils are in the top category as potential sensitizers ..

its also oils made from leaves, bark, seeds, roots, blossoms, gum, etc.

And sensitization is impossible to avoid entirely .. like traffic

accidents .. but we can greatly reduce the potential by avoiding oils we

know are known sensitizers and not using the others (the safe ones)

undiluted (neat). Will we become sensitized if we use an EO neat? Hard

to say. Its like asking if we will kill ourself if we choose to drive

while intoxicated .. odds are greater the more often we do it.

 

Avoiding sensitization is a case of dealing with the immune system's

self defense mechanism and though its hard to fool Mama Nature, its not

impossible to deceive the immune system.

 

What happens in sensitization is the immune system registers a foreign

invader .. it alerts all its soldiers that the body's defense system has

been breached. But it RARELY reacts when this happens .. it registers

the chemical profile of the invader and prepares for defensive action

the next time that invader strikes .. which might be days or weeks or

months or even years later. But once the immune system has reacted and

registered the profile .. attack it will at some point in time .. and

attacks will generally continue forever if the immune system's security

officer detects another invasion by that foreign enemy.

 

Because its not the oil itself that's causing the reaction .. but rather

one or maybe a combination of the chemical components of that oil, this

creates problems that continue even if we don't use that oil again.

 

The problems can arise anytime we come into contact with ANY substance

containing that chemical or combination of chemicals that has been duly

registered as an enemy agent by our immune system .. and that time, it

doesn't have to be via dermal application only .. it can occur when we

eat foods that contain the enemy agents. This is likely to occur since

aromatherapy industry is a very small user of essential oils; its the

cosmetics, perfumery and FOOD industry that uses the lion's share.

 

So how do we fool Old Mama Nature? We don't attack with brigades of

3,000 troops .. we slip squads of ten or so troops into the area of

operations because it is less likely to trigger the panic and alarm that

the immune system goes into when it registers foreign enemy invaders.

 

How do we do this? We dilute the oil. And try to avoid using any

essential oil .. even well diluted .. over a wide area of skin. You

might say .. what about massage? Well .. there are some risks in life

and that is one of them .. but its more potentially dangerous to the one

giving the massage than to the recipient because of the other danger ..

frequency of use. The more often we drive to the corner market, the

more likely we are to have a traffic accident.

 

Have I ever used an EO neat? Yep! I've slathered a burn with Lavender

and I have used Oregano (Origanum vulgare) neat while working search and

rescue during the August 1999 earthquake here in Turkey .. over 22,000

people died and many of the rescuers feared that disease would soon

become a problem due to the obvious effects. Police and rescue folks

often came to me and asked for Oregano for cuts and scrapes and such ..

I had run out of carrier so I used it neat. In both these cases there

was some risk .. and I can't even say it was a calculated risk .. it was

field expediency .. but still it was a gamble.

 

Proper dilution of essential oils is critical .. and contrary to the old

rumors in this industry about neat use of Lavender and Tea Tree being

safe .. they too must be diluted. There are MANY people around who have

become sensitized to Lavender and Tea Tree .. and sensitization is, in

most cases, for life .. it can take us to the emergency room.

 

Every essential oil used in the cosmetics industry has been tested on

human subjects and safe level of dilution is known. " Plant Aromatics "

is a compilation of this data researched over many years. The source of

this research is the R.I.F.M. (Research Institute for Fragrance

Materials) and their sister organization the I.F.R.A. (International

Fragrance Research Association).

 

These organizations collect and assess scientific safety data on

essential oils and provide reports on safe and adverse reactions to

their member companies in the commercial sector.

 

They have also commissioned research evaluations for over 45 years and

they publish the findings on essential oil safety in the journal - Food

and Chemicals Toxicity.

 

The next portion of this post is technically an advertisement but I

don't know how to present this safety information any other way. I hope

it is seen as a public service announcement .. an opportunity for folks

to get a credible research document on safety. There is no competition

for sale of this manual .. its available from but two sources .. one in

Europe and one in the USA.

 

IF we want to ensure we are using essential oils at a safe percentage of

dilution .. instead of listening to rumors, or shooting in the dark and

keeping our fingers crossed .. we can go to a library and research the

back issues of Food and Chemicals Toxicity for the past 45 plus years,

or acquire the Safety Manual, Plant Aromatics.

 

" Plant Aromatics " includes:

 

Skin Irritation

Sensitization

Photo sensitization

Oral & Dermal Toxicity

 

It goes into:

 

Reactions to Individual Chemicals

Testing for Adverse Effects

Skin Absorption

Oils Not Recommended

Absolute and Concrete Extracts

Maximum Levels of Oils in Perfumes/Cosmetics

Toxicity Levels

Referenced Adverse Effects on the Skin

And many more subjects

 

Why does one need this Safety Manual? I can think of three reasons.

 

1. Ethics and Personal Safety: Why should we use an EO in a dilution

that is larger than that which has been tested as being safe .. and

effective? We have responsibility to ensure that those who use our

products - as well as ourselves, are not injured due to our not knowing

the safe dilution.

 

2. Legal Liability: When we sell a product .. we then become liable

for any harm we might cause. Ignorance is no defense. Will use of this

safety data get us off the hook if we are faced with a lawsuit? I don't

know, but if we can quote scientific safety data I would think we would

be in a better position to show we took reasonable and prudent action to

do the right thing, and we made informed decisions using available

information rather than guesswork. Intent can mean much and a good

defense can not hurt - methinks.

 

3. Professional Development and Knowledge: " Plant Aromatics " is more

than rumor and is quotable as scientifically sound. The date/time/who

conducted the tests are referenced.

 

In North and South America .. Plant Aromatics is available at:

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

 

In Europe .. Plant Aromatics is available at:

http://www.aromamedical.com/paper.html

 

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