Toxicity of essential oils and vaporising

[niggles]

I was just having a peek online and couldn't immediately find an answer to this question..

Vaporisers are quite capable of vapeing essential oils, but are there any oils that would cause physical harm to be introduced to the body in this way?

Please help me understand this more clearly.

[watertrade]

Hi niggles, I don't know any specifics, but I seem to remember some of the essential oils can be quite toxic when ingested orally. Whether this also applies to inhalation I'm not sure. but I would err on the side of caution and find reliable evidence supporting its use this way before trying anything. We dont want you to be the first Guinea pig!

Did you have any in mind you wanted to try?

[DELETED ACCOUNT]

I'd wondered this myself a while ago, and came across the International Fragrance Association (IFRA) which produces MSDS-like reports on compounds, including those found in essential oils. Their website is a bit hard to navigate, and the search function works mainly on exact compound names, but if you know what they are (or can figure them out), you can look up safety info.

For example, yellow and brown camphor have high concentrations of safrole, for which the IFRA note (in their standards booklet):

"Safrole as such should not be used as a fragrance ingredient; essential oils containing safrole should not be used at a level such that the total concentration of safrole exceeds 0.01% in consumer products."

However, finding a list of common essential oil ingredients and their concentrations was difficult, but other sites seem to have distilled such info, like this one, which says:

"IFRA gives these oils strict proportion controls and of those used in aromatherapy they include angelica root, baume de Perou, bergamot, cinnamon cassia, cumin, sassafras and verbena. ... In addition to those oils restricted by IFRA, I consider the following to be worthy of close and careful attention: anise, aspic, basil, clove, coriander, hyssop and sage."

So, I'd be wary of vaping any essential oil containing these ingredients without doing more research, like what concentration levels are acceptable. In fact, if you don't know the exact ingredients, which are often hard or impossible to tell as they're not often listed, I'd err on the side of caution!

[niggles]

Thanks for the replies - I'll be interested to have a poke around the IFRA site and see whats what there.

The safrole warning is interesting, I have only had a quick peek around on the web but research has only shown safrole to be mildly carcinogenic in rats..

"Saffrole is reasonably anticipated to be a human carcinogen based on sufficient evidence of carcinogenicity from studies in experimental animals."

http://ntp.niehs.nih.gov/ntp/roc/twelfth/profiles/safrole.pdf

Watertrade - Im not sure what oils I would like to vape yet, but I think it would be nice to do. Right now I am stuck with an annoying tenacious cough and I would love to vape some kind of expectorant to help me get it up.

Ive got some coltsfoot and lobelia inflata so maybe ill give that a shot - but its not an oil... any thoughts on good oils to try?

[watertrade]

. any thoughts on good oils to try?

I wouldn't know where to start to be honest. Since you are trying to treat a cough you probably want a nice moist steamy vapour something like sticking your head over a bowl of hot water with a towel on your head

As a guess, I would say start with cannabis oil... Just kidding.

[wezza]

Does anyone know much about the mircro particle debate? Ive heard that when vaping you are still inhaling micro particles which could damage alveoli. I have a vape and definitely think its better than smoking, but interesting point to consider.

re the oils, I think your best bet would be to try and stick with natural herbs or single herbal extracts, if you have a wide range of ingredients, larger chance of something being "toxic". also are you talking about taking hits, or vaping into a room, similar to aroma therapy?

[frozenthunderbolt]

 

Right now I am stuck with an annoying tenacious cough and I would love to vape some kind of expectorant to help me get it up.

Ive got some coltsfoot and lobelia inflata so maybe ill give that a shot - but its not an oil... any thoughts on good oils to try?

Grow some Horehound (black or white) and make a tea from it. Elecampane root decoctation would also work

[Sallubrious]

You could try steam inhalation. Boil some water and tip it into a bowl add a few drops of eucalyptus or tea tree oil and suck it up. If your tap water is chlorinated you might want to use spring water or something without the chlorine.

[rigger]

In relation to particle inhalation I think it would depend on the vaporizer and the filter set up you run on it. Newer ones are generally better. Older ones have been shown to have very high levels of tar similar to smoking. different thing I know but maybe worth upgrading if you use it regularly.

Also not a lot of independent research I would imagine most studies would be done by the vaporizer companies themselves, but yeah I would still say better than smoking. the vapors make me cough my guts bad though.

Edited September 7, 2014 by rigger

[Dreamwalker.]

Lavender farmers rebel against EU chemical rules

http://phys.org/news/2014-09-lavender-farmers-rebel-eu-chemical.html

"

European Union rules adopted last year and due to come in force by 2018 will threaten that. According to regulators, lavender oil's potential to produce allergies places it firmly within regulations on chemical toxins. That means lavender products will have to bear labels involving bold black and red warning labels with messages such as "CAN BE FATAL IF SWALLOWED OR INHALED

Read more at: http://phys.org/news/2014-09-lavender-farmers-rebel-eu-chemical.html#jCp"

[lofty86]

after trying some cedar oil, enjoying the experience it gave (other than the obvious thujone) i orderd some pure cedrol crystals stomped it 1:10 into some herb (would have smoked less than 100mg) and vaped half a bowl. worst migraine ever! accompanied by an unpleasnt / even scary at times muscle relaxation, breathing was shallow and laboured and i think there may have even been a little blood in my urine the next day. although i never had any issues using an EO that contained cedrol id definitly watch to avoid it