# IFRA and safety standards of EO



## Debs (Aug 20, 2016)

Hi - i have a base recipe i am now happy with and want to start adding EO.  I thought i'd look on the IFRA site to see what % of each oil i could use should i wish to go ahead and sell it in the future.  M idea is that if i experiment with the correct % then i won't get into bad habits or develop a smell i love but can't then use confidently as IFRA say the % is too high.  So...i have found the site, good start, found the standards of Prohibited, restricted and specification but can't find all of the oils.  i assumed there would be a list either using botanical names or common names.  Can anyone tell where i need to go to find the information i am after.......i just need to know whether i can use 5% of the oil or 1%. oh... i am in the UK 
Thanks in the hope - Debs


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## Cindy2428 (Aug 20, 2016)

Hi Debs - I'm sorry I don't have a list for you, but I can tell you what I did.  Purely for safety reasons, early on I decided that I would only work with vendors for EO/FO's where I could get at a minimum an MSDS sheet. Most of the time I could get IFRA documentation as well.

For essential oils I do a lot more research- Even the lye monster doesn't negate the skin sensitivity issues a few EOs present.


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## Debs (Aug 20, 2016)

Hi Cindy
that is really good advice thank you. I did go onto the website of the  company i used but there were no MSDS available - i have e mailed them to see if they are 'hidden' some where on their site. Another company have MSDS sheets attached but they don't mention the % safety which i learnt from an earlier post about this, is section 3 of an MSDS???


I wonder why some companies do and others don't attach them....
Are you in the UK and if so which company do you buy from??


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## LilyJo (Aug 20, 2016)

Not sure who you have used but Soap Kitchen are pretty good with MSDS sheets.


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## Cindy2428 (Aug 20, 2016)

No Debs - sorry; Fort Wayne Indiana. I'm sure some of our Euro soaper-stars can help you out


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## Debs (Aug 22, 2016)

*MSDS sheets*



LilyJo said:


> Not sure who you have used but Soap Kitchen are pretty good with MSDS sheets.



Hi - yes i did order from soap kitchen who are great at supplying the sheets and freshskin have sent me some msds sheets and an effa sheet.  I am, however at a loss what to do with some of them!!  some oils seem easy to work out, geranium for eg i can see that citronellol is the largest component and on the IFRA site it clearly says 5% under cat 9.  its the others that i am lost with - eg juniper berry  - pettigrain- bergamot as their main componenet is limonene or linallol which on the IFRA simply says sensitisers with a note box which i don't understand?!  Is there another section i should be looking in??!?!? i so want to learn how to use these sheets and not use ore than the max amount?
any more help more than appreciated!


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## LilyJo (Aug 22, 2016)

Debs said:


> Hi - yes i did order from soap kitchen who are great at supplying the sheets and freshskin have sent me some msds sheets and an effa sheet.  I am, however at a loss what to do with some of them!!  some oils seem easy to work out, geranium for eg i can see that citronellol is the largest component and on the IFRA site it clearly says 5% under cat 9.  its the others that i am lost with - eg juniper berry  - pettigrain- bergamot as their main componenet is limonene or linallol which on the IFRA simply says sensitisers with a note box which i don't understand?!  Is there another section i should be looking in??!?!? i so want to learn how to use these sheets and not use ore than the max amount?
> any more help more than appreciated!



My starting point with a new product tends to be something like this:

http://www.cosmeticsafetyassessment.com/web_documents/ingredients_-_hot_and_cold_process_soaps.pdf

On the basis that anything I made to sell would need to be assessed so it needs to fall into the category approved by most assessors. So, based on this if you were making a soap they would suggest a maximum of 2% but for body butters and oils it is a maximum of 1% (I assume that this is as they are a leave on product).

Not sure if that helps or not but it does at least give you something to start with!


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## joy. (Aug 22, 2016)

Debs said:


> ...its the others that i am lost with - eg juniper berry  - pettigrain- bergamot as their main componenet is limonene or linallol which on the IFRA simply says sensitisers with a note box which i don't understand?!



I think what that box is saying is that those ingredients are sensitizers when they are oxidized, so you need to do something to prevent oxidation? I also think those two components need to be listed in your ingredient list if they are used over a certain amount, even if they're just present in the essential oils. Double check on both counts though, because I'm not sure!


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## Dr.J (Aug 27, 2016)

I've noticed that the Wholesale Supplies Plus website has IFRA information on it for lots of EOs (and their FOs).

For example, check out their listing for clove bud oil.  IFRA max in soap = 0.5%.


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## Dr.J (Aug 27, 2016)

Debs said:


> ...its the others that i am lost with - eg... bergamot as their main componenet is limonene or linallol which on the IFRA simply says sensitisers with a note box which i don't understand?!



I don't think limonene is a problem if its fresh - only its oxidation product is thought to be possibly toxic.  The more problematic component(s) of bergamot EO are the FCFs (furanocoumarins), such as bergapten.  Many of these are phototoxic and perhaps carcinogenic.  A great comprehensive resource for the safety of many EOs and their individual components is "Essential Oil Safety", 2nd edition, by Robert Tisserand and Rodney Young.  ISBN 978-0-4430-6241-4.

EDIT - Duh, I see joy already addressed this. Sorry I missed that.


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## Debs (Aug 27, 2016)

Thank you all for your advice and suggestions which I will take heed of! I have some more time next week to do some more reading and making so hopefully I will move forward in my quest to make beautiful smelling soap!!


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## joy. (Aug 29, 2016)

Dr.J said:


> I don't think limonene is a problem if its fresh - only its oxidation product is thought to be possibly toxic.  The more problematic component(s) of bergamot EO are the FCFs (furanocoumarins), such as bergapten.  Many of these are phototoxic and perhaps carcinogenic.  A great comprehensive resource for the safety of many EOs and their individual components is "Essential Oil Safety", 2nd edition, by Robert Tisserand and Rodney Young.  ISBN 978-0-4430-6241-4.
> 
> EDIT - Duh, I see joy already addressed this. Sorry I missed that.



Thank you, because I wasn't 100% sure. And that book is AMAZING.

Should rosemary oil extract or vitamin e (or some other antioxidant) be added to essential oils that are prone to oxidation? I've been keeping mine in the frig, but now I'm wondering if that's not enough. I think I'm going to toss the bergamot.


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## DeeAnna (Aug 29, 2016)

Best way to preserve most EOs is to keep them in the dark and in the fridge. EOs, despite being called "oils", are not at all the same as carrier/soaping oils so please don't try to preserve them directly with ROE or some such. You sure can add an antioxidant to products that contain the EOs.


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## joy. (Aug 30, 2016)

Awesome. I'll just keep doing what I'm doing then. Thanks


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