Welcome to Life! Essential Oils: Latest News

Colored Bottles for Essential Oils?--Teach Me: Question 1

Sun, 04 Dec 2016 17:03:51 +0000

Colored Glass Bottles and Essential Oils ‒ February 13th, 2014

Many people ask me all the time if its really necessary for essential oils to be stored in colored glass bottles. My preference is to store the oils in clear glass because color analysis is important to me and I want to be able to clearly see the color of the oil. The truth is that most essential oils are photochemically inactive in the visible region but do have some reactivity in the ultra-violet (UV) region of the electromagnetic spectrum. Since UV light of high enough energy to cause photochemical reactions in most organic molecules is absorbed (not transmitted) by normal glass, regardless of color, most of the time it really makes little difference if the oils are in clear, brown, blue, green, purple or whatever color glass. Of course there are a few exceptions, as with the chamazulene containing oils (blue chamomile, blue yarrow, blue tansy, etc.) that you would not want to store in colorless bottles for long periods under heavy lighting conditions. This is because chamazulene has strong absorption in the VISIBLE region of the spectrum (thus the intense dark blue color of these oils) and so it is the lower energy visible light and not just UV light that can significantly effect these oils. As a general rule, if the liquid is intensely colored then thats telling you that there is significant activity in the visible region and normal light can effect the product since clear glass is obviously transparent to all frequencies of the visible spectrum.

But even so, photochemical degradation is not really the biggest threat to essential oils. Of more concern is thermal degradation and reaction with oxygen, these are the biggest enemies of essential oils in general. For this reason you should really be more concerned about refrigerating oils like citrus and the chamazulene containing oils because they are more susceptible to thermal degradation than other oils. Furthermore, since oxygen plays a big role in decomposition, you should keep airspace in the oil to a minimum. I recommend as a general rule that once the oil container is half full then its time to transfer the oil to a smaller bottle, this will significantly extend the useful life of the oil. If you want to see how air affects oils then try putting some orange or grapefruit oil in a bottle and only filling it about 1/10 the way full. Come back to the oil about 6 months later and dip a scent strip in the oil to evaluate it and you will notice a drastic difference in the odor. Many times viscosity will also change because the oxygen can cause polymerization reactions making the oil a thicker consistency.

So, in summary, if you just take extra measures to keep the airspace to a minimum and the temperature at 75 or below (even lower in the case of citrus and other oils more susceptible to thermal decomposition) then you can keep the oils smelling nicer for longer periods as well as extend their effectiveness and these two things will contribute far more the preserving the oil than any colored bottle will do.

Dr. Robert Pappas is a chemist with more than two decades of experience in the essential oil industry. He has worked extensively with professionals from around the world, and focuses primarily on essential oil analysis and education, performing quality and purity testing for clients large and small. His opinions are widely respected in the essential oil industry. For a time, Dr. Pappas' relationships with growers prompted him to begin sales of essential oils to better serve the needs of his customers as they sought the best options for essential oil purchases. It was during this period of time that Welcome to Life! began. Although Dr. Pappas later sold the burgeoning business to his brother, we continue to provide our oils exclusively from from this source. We feel confident that the oils remain as pure and amazing as they were under Dr. Pappas, and are pleased to offer them to our clients.

Dr. Pappas continues to study, analyze, and educate about essential oils. With his permission, we reprint his Essential Oil Myths so you can know the truth among the lies in the essential oil industry. For further study and verification, please visit Dr. Pappas' Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/search/top/?q=essential%20oil%20university

Should Essential Oils be Refrigerated?--Teach Me: Question 2

Sun, 04 Dec 2016 17:03:42 +0000

Essential Oils and Refrigeration ‒ May 27th, 2014

For most oils refrigeration is not necessary but can't hurt. With the blue oils you definitely should refrigerate if you want to slow the oxidation process and keep the blue color as long as possible. Chamazulene is what causes the blue color and when it oxidizes it will cause the oil to become green. When this happens it doesn't mean the oil is necessarily bad but just a sign that some of the chamazulene has reacted with air. My general rule of thumb is basically "if the oil smells good, it is good" LOL. You can also extend the lifetime of citrus oils by refrigeration as limonene and monoterpenes in general are susceptible to oxidation. When limonene oxide forms in a citrus oil you will know it, even a very small amount will cause a foul odor. The biggest enemy to the oils by far is oxygen. Keeping low amount of airspace in the bottle is crucial to preservation for long periods. If possible, you definitely want to change to a smaller container before the bottle is half empty. If you refrigerate a half empty bottle it may slow the oxidation process but it will not protect against it, the oxygen in the bottle will still react with the oil, just at a slower rate. Don't put the oils in the freezer because some of them have components that will crystalize out. Many times when components crystalize out at the bottom of an oil the person doesn't notice it then pours off the liquid on the top which won't be representative of what the total chemistry of the oil should be. To make matters worse, the oil left at the bottom will now be abnormally high in the crystalized component after some of the liquid is poured off, so even after you warm it back up and get it liquid, its chemistry will not be right. So its not really the freezing of the oil itself that is the biggest concern but the resulting changes in the relative percentages of key components that result if a person uses a partially frozen oil before its all brought back to room temperature and thoroughly re-mixed.

Therapeutic Grade Oils--Teach Me: Myth 1

Sun, 04 Dec 2016 17:03:31 +0000

Myth #1: There is no such thing as a "Therapeutic Grade" essential oil.

The truth is that there are MANY therapeutic grade standards. The problem is, which one do you trust? It’s important for people to realize that all of these standards are INTERNAL standards developed by companies selling oils and may or may not include quality control by a third party lab. Furthermore, if a third party lab is used, does this lab really know what they are doing? It's also important to know what the company defines as being "therapeutic grade" does it simply mean that the oil is pure or does it mean something beyond purity and carry with it a quality standard as well? Let's face it, an oil can be pure as the driven snow but still be low quality, I see this on a daily basis in the samples I analyze for my clients in order for them to make good buying decisions. Judgments about essential oil quality take more than just good chemists and good equipment, they require many years of experience in odor evaluation and knowing what specific minor components are desirable in an oil and not just focusing on the major components.

Yes we all agree that there is no independent standard for Therapeutic Grade that is universally recognized. And while you may not like the promotion of Therapeutic Grade by various companies, it’s not really correct to say that “there is no such thing as Therapeutic Grade.” I think a better response to those promoting such an idea would be to say"while many companies promote their own therapeutic grade standard, one should be aware that there is no universally accepted independent body that certifies essential oils as therapeutic grade." That is a fair statement that is factually correct that nobody can disagree with and will not cause dialog to shut down between those in the direct marketing companies and those on the more traditional side of aromatherapy.

Essential Oil Life-Span--Teach Me: Myth 2

Sun, 04 Dec 2016 17:03:22 +0000

Myth #2: Pure, unadultured essential oils with no synthetics added should last forever.

Another ridiculous claim by people who understand basically nothing about chemistry. I am not sure I know of anything that will last even as long as the earth remains, with perhaps the exceptions of diamonds and human ignorance LOL. The truth is that while the oil may last in the sense that it "exists" for a long time, there is no question that most oils, pure or otherwise, will eventually go bad due to oxidation reactions that are unavoidable unless you could somehow store them in an oxygen free atmosphere (basically impossible for most people). Even if stored in an inert atmosphere there is still the possibility of some EO molecules reacting with themselves over long periods, changing the oil, many times for the worse.

Most oils do degrade with age due to oxidation but there are some oils, such as sandalwood, vetiver, patchouli, etc. that actually get better with age, at least to a certain point (I am not sure anyone knows what sandalwood looks like after say 5000 years and I am pretty sure well before then the oil would "resinify" and become solid). Its typically the heavier oils that are high in sesquiterpene alcohols that get better with age. However, most oils, especially the citrus oils and the blue oils will degrade with age (at least within human lifetimes). Citrus oils are especially prone to degradation due to the high levels of limonene which oxidizes relatively easily. Even very small amounts of limonene oxide formation can totally destroy the odor of a once good citrus oil. In addition, wax formation in citrus due to monoterpene polymerization is also quite common over time. For this reason its best to go through citrus oils within a year, if possible.

In the case of the blue oils we see evidence of oxidation when the blue color becomes green over time. This is due to the degradation of chamazulene, the hydrocarbon responsible for the blue color in things like German chamomile, blue tansy, yarrow, etc. Its for these reasons that I always recommend that people refrigerate any of the blue oils and be sure to always keep a minimum amount of airspace in the bottle that you are storing these oils in so that the "greening" effect will be slowed down. Of course keeping airspace to a minimum is a good practice for all the essential oils but its absolutely crucial for the blue oils and for citrus oils.

One unfailing principal of science is that of naturally increasing entropy which relates to the 2nd Law of Thermodynamics. All things naturally head towards maximum entropy (disorder). Entropy is inescapable on this earth, and we all know it takes constant energy to fight against this natural degradation of all things. Left alone, things don't naturally become more ordered over time, we all know this whether or not we are familiar with the term entropy. Entropy is why you cannot create a perpetual motion machine, why your houses naturally get messy over time, why your car engine eventually breaks down, why your body eventually can no longer sustain itself and you die and why the earth must eventually come to an end.

Camphor in Lavender--Teach Me: Myth 3

Sun, 04 Dec 2016 17:03:02 +0000

Myth #3: True therapeutic lavender (lavandula angustifolia) should have no detectable camphor. Any level of camphor in lavender essential oil would indicate a mix of lavender and lavandin.

The truth is that while indeed the camphor should be low (less than 1%) there is almost always a little bit of camphor in true lavender oil, its basically unavoidable. I have analyzed literally thousands of samples of true lavender oil, including many samples I that have distilled myself and I can tell you, as any other analyst who knows what he is doing will tell you, that if small amounts of camphor are not present then it would be an EXTREMELY unusual exception. Honestly, I cannot even say that I have ever seen a lavender without some small amount of camphor, at least not that I can remember.

If you do your research you will find that the ISO spec for lavender lists the acceptable camphor up to 1.5% , depending on origin, and the British Pharmacopoeia lists camphor at max 1.2%. My standard at EOU is that camphor, 1,8-cineole and borneol should all be about 1% or less in true lavender essential oil. My standard is based on samples taken from all over the world as well as from many distillations that I have personally done on many different varieties of Lavandula.

Just to give anyone interested a typical example analysis, the picture below is of a certified organic lavender that I recently analyzed for a customer. As you can see the peak at 26.435 shows camphor present at 0.25%. Also, if you want peer reviewed literature references showing that camphor should indeed be in lavender, just login to my EO Chemical Reference database and you will see plenty of detailed reports, with journal citations, confirming exactly what I am talking about.

Oil Vibrational Frequencies--Teach Me: Myth 4

Sun, 04 Dec 2016 17:02:52 +0000

Myth #4: Essential oil vibrational frequencies range from 52 MHz to 320 MHz. Essential oils have the highest frequency of any natural substance known to man and will increase the frequency of our bodies.

Please don't fall into the old frequency trap that has been circulating around the internet since the 1990s. The problem with all this is that 99% of people don't understand quantum mechanics well enough to be able clearly see through the scam, or if they do suspect its a scam they don't have the background to articulate why Its a scam so they just don't comment at all. It is well known in science that molecules are constantly absorbing and emitting electromagnetic radiation of various types and many different frequencies. But the way that the typical eo frequency scam is described makes no scientific sense at all. I think part of it started as a way to sell high priced and useless frequency measuring equipment.

A frequency is simply a cycle per second. From quantum mechanics we know that electromagnetic energy is typically measured by looking at the wavelengths of electromagnetic waves used to cause various energy transitions between quantum states. These wavelengths can be translated to frequencies through a simple equation (frequency of the electromagnetic energy is the speed of light divided by the measured wavelength). Molecules emit and absorb energy in various forms resulting from electronic, vibrational and rotational energy level transitions. If your going to talk about vibrational frequencies then its necessary to understand some basic chemistry and quantum mechanics which I will attempt to explain below without getting too technical.

Vibrational energy in molecules refers to the the vibration of bound atoms within a particular molecule. For example, if we look at a very simple molecule like carbon dioxide, we can measure the vibration or frequency of what is referred to the carbonyl stretch (the stretching motion of the double bond between the carbon and the oxygen atoms). The larger the molecule is the more vibrational motions it will have. Molecules in essential oils would have many different bond vibrations going on because even the smaller molecules (monoterpenes) consist of 10 carbon atoms and 16 hydrogen atoms. Thus all essential oil molecules would have many different vibrations going on simultaneously and each different type of vibrational motion in each different bond would have its own characteristic frequency. These vibrational frequencies in molecules are measured using infrared (IR) spectroscopy because energy in the IR range of the electromagnetic spectrum is what is required to cause these vibrations. The magnitude of Infrared radiation is in the 10,000,000,000,000 to 400,000,000,000,000 Hertz range!

So, as you can see, it would be impossible to characterize an essential oil or even a single essential oil molecule as having a single vibrational energy frequency. Furthermore, the energy of vibration in molecules is way higher than the 52 Mhz - 320 MHz (52,000,000 - 320,000,000 Hertz) range claimed by the people selling the eo frequency measuring devices. In fact, that low energy range would be in the radio waves region and below.

In short, if you are promoting EOs as being effective because of their frequency, my recommendation to you would be to seriously consider rethinking this strategy because as people become more and more educated in this field you will only end up looking foolish by such language.

The Electromagnetic Spectrum