@Nona'sFarm yes, that’s the book.
While the IFRA guidelines may be overly stringent in some/many cases, they also help to raise awareness that there are chemicals in fragrance and essential oils that can increase the risk of skin sensitization, cancer or toxic effects under some condition(s). Common sense is not going to help us predict effects, like cancer, that take decades to develop.
So, what’s a soap maker to do? The easiest answer is to stay within manufacturer/supplier guidelines, which in some cases may result in a very wide margin of safety. Alternatively, we can try to learn more as a basis for informed decision-making.
Tisserand and Young’s book is a valuable resource to have on hand, particularly when using EOs. Just this morning I learned that beta-myrcene is common in nature, for example in lemongrass, rosemary, and pepper. After presenting a review of scientific research (lab studies), they conclude the following: “the results of the [high dose, ingestion route] study have little relevance to human exposure“ and beta-myrcene can be “regarded as non-irritant, non-allergenic, non-toxic and antimutagenic.” Good, I’m crossing it off my list of things to worry about.
I don’t own a similar reference book for the alphabet soup of chemicals, including those that are synthetic, in fragrance oils. Is there such a book? Without any additional information to inform my decision making, I‘m most comfortable with sticking with the usage guidelines provided by the suppliers.
While the IFRA guidelines may be overly stringent in some/many cases, they also help to raise awareness that there are chemicals in fragrance and essential oils that can increase the risk of skin sensitization, cancer or toxic effects under some condition(s). Common sense is not going to help us predict effects, like cancer, that take decades to develop.
So, what’s a soap maker to do? The easiest answer is to stay within manufacturer/supplier guidelines, which in some cases may result in a very wide margin of safety. Alternatively, we can try to learn more as a basis for informed decision-making.
Tisserand and Young’s book is a valuable resource to have on hand, particularly when using EOs. Just this morning I learned that beta-myrcene is common in nature, for example in lemongrass, rosemary, and pepper. After presenting a review of scientific research (lab studies), they conclude the following: “the results of the [high dose, ingestion route] study have little relevance to human exposure“ and beta-myrcene can be “regarded as non-irritant, non-allergenic, non-toxic and antimutagenic.” Good, I’m crossing it off my list of things to worry about.
I don’t own a similar reference book for the alphabet soup of chemicals, including those that are synthetic, in fragrance oils. Is there such a book? Without any additional information to inform my decision making, I‘m most comfortable with sticking with the usage guidelines provided by the suppliers.
