WARNING / DANGER

All our vegetable and essential oils are always produced at 100% purity and are supplied primarily for professional users and applications. When you place an order with us, it is important that you are aware of the hazards involved in working with essential oils and carrier oils. Although essential oils play an important role in aromatherapy/cosmetics, an essential oil can be dangerous to your health if you process, package, transport and/or use it incorrectly.

For general guidelines on the safe use of essential oils, please refer to the link Disclaimer & Safety below

The following section provides more information about the health and safety considerations that apply when handling, processing, transporting, and using essential oils in commercial or retail settings.

Globally Harmonized System (GHS)

The Globally Harmonized System of Classification and Labelling of Chemicals (GHS) is an internationally agreed system established by the United Nations. It is designed to replace the various classification and labelling standards used in different countries with consistent criteria at the global level. It replaces the previous classification systems of the European Union and the United States Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA).

The GHS has introduced new “common” hazard symbols worldwide. These are the symbols used in the GHS.

For more information on GHS, see this Wikipedia page here.

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Flammability

Certain essential oils are classified as Class 3 flammable liquids and therefore require additional controls when transported by air, land, and sea. Such oils include:

Tea Tree
Citrus oils, such as: Lemon, Grapefruit, Bergamot, Orange
Rosemary
Eucalyptus
The flammability of essential oils can be determined using the safety data sheet (SDS or VIB). You can find it on the product page for the relevant product, under the Documentation heading.

Processing

Exposure to certain essential oils can cause contact dermatitis. Essential oils can be aggressive toward rubbers and plastics, so care must be taken when choosing the right processing equipment. Glass syringes are often used, but they have a coarser volumetric scale.

Chemical syringes are ideal because they are resistant to essential oils, long enough to reach into deep vessels, and have fine graduations, which facilitates quality control. Unlike traditional pipettes, which have difficulty handling viscous liquids, the chemical syringe has a seal and a plunger that slide inside the pipette and wipe the essential oil from the pipette wall.

Contact with undiluted essential oils on the skin should be avoided. Suitable gloves should be used unless an alternative method is available to prevent the oils/bottles from being touched at all - such as a filling machine.

Ingestion and toxicity

Many of our essential oils are widely used as AROMA flavorings in food, beverages, and confectionery. The use of essential oils in this way is subject to strict standards for good manufacturing practices (GMP) and flavorings. This therefore does not mean that our products are suitable for direct consumption.

Some oils can be toxic to certain pets, especially cats.

Internal use of essential oils can pose serious risks to pregnant women, as some can be abortifacient at doses of just 0.5-10 ml, and therefore must not be used during pregnancy.

If you are not a professional user, you must never take essential oils orally or use them pure on the skin.

Allergic reactions

Our oils are produced in a factory where nuts are also processed. Therefore, take care if you have a nut allergy!

Flammability

Certain essential oils are classified as flammable (Class 3) under the Chemical Labelling and Packaging Regulations. They must therefore bear certain identification symbols. Never use highly flammable essential oils near open flames or other sources of heat and ignition.

Pesticide residues

There is often concern about possible pesticide residues in essential oils, especially when they are used for cosmetic purposes. We sell almost exclusively organic essential oils that have been analyzed with 100% certainty in a laboratory to be free of any pesticides.

Regarding pesticide residues in, for example, essential oils for food products, such as mint or orange oil, the relevant criterion is not only whether the material was produced organically, but whether it complies with government standards based on an actual analysis of the pesticide content. This can be checked for every essential oil in the so-called certificate of analysis (COA). This ensures much stricter monitoring to prevent pesticides above the agreed limit values from entering the food chain.

Toxicology

Some essential oils can even be fatal if ingested. The following table provides some examples. The table shows the LD50 (or median) lethal dose for common essential oils; this is the dose required to kill half of the tested animal population. LD50 is intended only as a guideline, and the reported values may vary considerably due to differences in the species tested and the test conditions.

Common name	Oral LD50	Dermal LD50	Notes
Cassia cinnamon	2.80 g/kg	0.32 g/kg
Cedarwood	>5 g/kg	>5 g/kg
Frankincense	>2 g/kg	>2 g/kg	Boswellia sacra
Frankincense	>5 g/kg	>5 g/kg	Boswellia carterii
Kampfer camphor Cinnamomum camphora	3.80 g/kg	>5 g/kg	Cinnamomum camphora, oil extracted from the leaves
Indian frankincense	>2 g/kg	>2 g/kg	Boswellia serrata
Lemon myrtle	2.43 g/kg	2.25 g/kg
Roman chamomile	>5 g/kg	>5 g/kg
White camphor	>5 g/kg	>5 g/kg	Cinnamomum camphora, oil extracted from the leaves
Yellow camphor	3.73 g/kg	>5 g/kg	Cinnamomum camphora, oil extracted from the leaves
Ylang-ylang	>5 g/kg	>5 g/kg

Further information on the toxicology of other essential oils can be found in the safety data sheet (SDS). These are available on the product page of the relevant product and can also be requested from us. Always read them carefully before working with the oils.