Safety, toxicity and related issues/ 19.02.24
The dangers of using 'untested' essential oils
Estimating the Adverse Dermal Effects of Essential Oils by Examining their Chemical Composition By Martin Watt Published in NORA news Dec .1995 vol. 1 issue 2 Yes this is a very old article, but I am using it to show how long ago that I wrote about issues covered in newer articles on this site. Start: This is an extremely arbitrary a...
Marketing issues/ 19.02.24
The dangers of using 'untested' essential oils Blog sites that link to Amazon shops
ESSENTIAL OILS SALES VIA AMAZON.COM & THE INADEQUATE SAFETY WARNINGS OF THE SUPPLIERS By Martin Watt Safety: Amazon say: “The Product Safety Team at Amazon works to protect Amazon customers from risks of injury associated with products offered on Amazon by looking into and taking action on reported safety complaints and incidents”. Yet, w...
Safety, toxicity and related issues/ 19.02.24
Benzoin - warnings on its use
BENZOIN A safe preservative or not? By Martin Watt In 1992 IFRA, the world's leading experts in safety issues of all aromatic extracts, issued new guidelines on the use of Benzoin extracts in cosmetic products. They recommended that only extracts processed by methods which eliminated allergens should be used in cosmetic products. This...
Safety, toxicity and related issues/ 19.02.24
Old lavender oil - the dangers
Old lavender oil may be a problem. By Martin Watt. In Sept 2003 I obtained some papers on aged linalool and lavender oil which are rather alarming. For years I have been advising therapists not to use old citrus peel or pine family oils on the skin. This is because as those oils age with oxygen exposure, they form chemicals which can initi...
Safety, toxicity and related issues/ 19.02.24
Pennyroyal oil - the myths and facts
NATURAL TOXINS IN TRADITIONAL MEDICINES some MYTHS removed © By M. Watt 1994. Revised 2006 First Published by The Aromatic Thymes Vol. 3 No.4 1995. pp22-30 Introduction: A lot of misleading information has been published for many years about commonly occurring "toxins in plant medicines." This has not only occurred in the media, but als...
Safety, toxicity and related issues/ 19.02.24
Suspect methods of investigating plant toxins
GENERAL METHODOLOGY OF INVESTIGATING NATURAL PLANT TOXINS By Martin Watt A few scientists have acknowledged that one cannot assume genotoxicity in natural products simply because one isolated chemical demonstrates this property. Certain plant chemicals in isolation are known to cause severe skin reactions. However, fragrance chemists know...
Safety, toxicity and related issues/ 19.02.24
Warnings on consumption of lemongrass oil article on ehow.com
“How to Ingest Lemongrass Oil” a review on: http://www.ehow.co.uk Review by Martin Watt Full URL: http://www.ehow.co.uk/how_5780039_ingest-lemongrass-oil.html This company (Demand Media), run information web sites on a wide variety of advisory topics. However, when challenged on the accuracy and safety of their featured articles they...
Safety, toxicity and related issues/ 19.02.24
Chemistry - errors on safety issues a review for the IFA
An evaluation of chemistry when related to essential oils. By Martin Watt Two articles written for 'Aromatherapy Times' -the I.F.A. journal-UK. Spring 2005. V.1. No.64. pp7-8. Summer 2005. V.1. No.65. pp 8-9. Part 1 of 2. For years I have been saying that aromatherapists do not need a detailed knowledge of organic chemistry beca...
Education and training/ 18.02.24
BOTANICAL (Latin) NAMES FOR ESSENTIAL OILS
BOTANICAL (Latin) NAMES FOR ESSENTIAL OILS 'Aromatic Sense' the IATA newsletter, Summer 1996. Revised 2006 Over the years there has been an enormous push for utilising scientific terminology in aromatherapy. Unfortunately, few of the people promoting the use of Latin terminology have a working knowledge of the essential oil trade, or for...
Education and training/ 18.02.24
Lecture to the Royal College of Nurses conference
Lecture to the Royal College of Nurses conference on complementary medicine in 1992 by Martin Watt cert. phyt. medical herbalist. Paul has asked me to start the day and I am told that I have to wake everyone up. To do that I will pass on to you some of my knowledge about the misleading and untruthful claims made by some complementary thera...