Why is purity even a concern?
I get this question all the time. It is still surprising to some people that essential oils can be adulterated or manipulated or just plain crap.
Essential Oils are more than just pretty smells in a bottle.
Let me start by defining essential oils first. Essential oils are the lipid soluble mixtures of volatile aromatic compounds found in plants. Volatile means a liquid can turn into gas, hence the aroma quality to these oils. When you open a bottle of essential oil a few molecules in liquid form escape as gas and it is these molecules in gas form that we smell. These molecules interact with the smell receptors in our nose and send signals to our brain.
Different essential oils are made up of different constituents. Constituents are chemical molecules that naturally exist in the plant. These constituents are important. They enter our body via blood stream or through inhalation. They interact with our body in different ways and produce a biological response. For example lavender consists of many constituents but majority of lavender consists of linalool and linalyl acetate. Linalool is what gives that relaxing sedative effect when we inhale lavender.
Now what happens when you have an impure or manipulated oil?
The oil itself will either not have the desired constituents or not enough constituents to produce a biological response. This is when people give up and say 'essential oils don't work'.
Sometimes the oils are diluted with solvents or carrier oils. Again not enough constituents are present in the oil. The solvents used for dilution can also be potentially dangerous to the body.
Whether you are using essential oils aromatically or topically, the essential oil must be pure with enough constituents to produce a biological response.
How do we know if an essential oil is pure?
You can grab this Essential Oil Safety Checklist. It should tell you whether your essential oil is safe, pure, trustworthy, efficient and therapeutic.
The most important thing is to find out if your oils have been tested for purity. Usually with purity testing, labs make sure enough chemical constituents that make up the oil is present in the correct ratio. They also make sure there is no contamination, adulteration or dilution.
Why the adulteration?
You will be surprised that majority of essential oils on the market do not pass my safety/purity checklist. The market is flooded with adulterated, impure, diluted and fragrance oils. So why do companies sell low standard oils? How can they get away with it?
This is because essential oils are not FDA regulated. There are no set standards. Some companies have set up high standards for themselves while majority of them have not. So really it is up to the consumer to do their research before buying into a supposedly 'pure' or 'therapeutic grade' essential oil. That is why I created this simple checklist. It helps you ask questions about the essential oils you use. Remember we want the oils to work for us and not just have a pretty fragrance.
Essential oil is a growing marketing. There is money to make in this market. Just like with any successful market, there are knock-offs and adulteration. Take luxury brand purses for example. Same goes for oils. We need to be vigilant and educate ourselves about the oils we use. Especially because they enter our blood stream and produce a biological response. So next time you hold a bottle of essential oil with a label 'therapeutic and pure', ask yourself 'Is it really pure'? Does it get a 10/10 on this checklist?
Want to learn more about essential oils? Here is a free ebook resource.
Want to get your hands on pure essential oils? Do you want essential oils to work for you? Learn about the essential oil brand I trust with my kids, parents and patients.
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