rosemary essential oil toxic?

[hempsju]

Hello Experts,
I did not know that rosemary essential oil came with so many warnings. Can someone enlighten me as to whether or not it's safe to use in cold process soap or is it avoided altogether due to the potentially toxic and adverse reactionary nature...
Thanks, and blessings,

Julia

 

[lsg]

I use rosemary EOs in blends for my soap and have never had a problem.

https://www.aromaweb.com/essential-oils/rosemary-oil.asp

 

[Mobjack Bay]

Many essential oils come with warnings. They are highly concentrated plants oils, with many active compounds, which makes it important to understand safe usage rates. lsg has linked a site that will get you started and EOCalc.com provides information on safe usage rates in blends based on IFRA guidelines. Tisserand and Young’s book Essential Oil Safety is the bible for many who use EOs. It’s a bit pricey, but very useful to have on hand.

 

[Arimara]

Rosemary oil is one of the safer EO's to use

Many essential oils come with warnings. They are highly concentrated plants oils, with many active compounds, which makes it important to understand safe usage rates. lsg has linked a site that will get you started and EOCalc.com provides information on safe usage rates in blends based on IFRA guidelines. Tisserand and Young’s book Essential Oil Safety is the bible for many who use EOs. It’s a bit pricey, but very useful to have on hand.

To be honest, sometimes it's worth shelling out a little extra $$ if we can for information that would benefit us greatly in the long run. I needed to update that Essential Oil Safety book I have since I bought it as a teen/young adult and I'm a couple of years shy of 40 now.

 

[Mobjack Bay]

Rosemary oil is one of the safer EO's to use

To be honest, sometimes it's worth shelling out a little extra $$ if we can for information that would benefit us greatly in the long run. I needed to update that Essential Oil Safety book I have since I bought it as a teen/young adult and I'm a couple of years shy of 40 now.

I agree. I ordered the book as soon as I began to realize the complexities of EO usage rates.

 

[hempsju]

Thanks everyone!!! I appreciate all the info!

 

[AliOop]

I use it often in soap, but I warn people that it can cause seizures for those with epilepsy and other seizure disorders. I don't think there's enough in my soap to trigger that, but I don't want to find out the hard way!

 

[Catscankim]

Rosemary is a pretty safe oil to use. All EO come with a lot of warnings. IMO it is one of the safest, aside from anybody with an allergy to it. I put it up there with Lavender and Tea Tree, on the safe-list.

I use it often in soap, but I warn people that it can cause seizures for those with epilepsy and other seizure disorders. I don't think there's enough in my soap to trigger that, but I don't want to find out the hard way!

IMO, people with sensitivities usually know what triggers it. Well, they should anyway. If I list what is in the product, then it's their responsibility. Again, IMO.

And I didn't know rosemary triggers seizures. That, along with tea tree, are in a lot of hair products to promote "hair growth".

And there are a lot of cross sensitivities...Chamomile is related to ragweed.

Ppl allergic to xmas trees are allergic to pine tar LOL (inside joke for anybody else reading LOL)

 

[ResolvableOwl]

Most plants are producing EOs to scare off herbivores, so this stuff actually just does its job when being dangerous. If you want so, they're Nature's own pesticides. (Though, it remains an open question why we humans actually like the smell of so many of them.)

 

[paradisi]

It's important to recognize the difference between manner of usage.

Almost all safety warnings such as those for essential oil usage are for the oil neat on the skin or taken internally. Neither concern applies to soap in use.

Tisserand's great book for example is written for aromatherapists who use the oils in massage.

And there's not a lot of evidence I believe for the epilepsy linkage but again the warning was not about using a rinse off product like soap.

If one wears gloves when weighing them and goes by IFRA guidelines rosemary is no more dangerous than any other essential oil.

 

[DeeAnna]

"...Rosemary essential oil is indeed potent and comes with some precautions. While it can be used in cold process soap, it's essential to use it cautiously and in moderation...."

My years as a college instructor makes me wary of this post -- it sounds nicely impressive and authoritative at first glance, but is far too generic and vague to actually be useful. It sounds suspiciously like it's been generated by AI.

edit to add useful content:

Based on my reading of Essential Oil Safety by Tisserand and Young, rosemary EO has GRAS status (generally recognized as safe). It is not recommended for use in or near the faces and noses of babies or young children, but is safe for responsible use by adults.

I don't know what the current IFRA guidelines are for rosemary EO, but the most conservative dosage guideline from Essential Oil Safety is a max of 6.5% for use on skin. Since about 6% is a typical maximum fragrance dosage used by most soap makers, that makes this rosemary a fairly safe option for use in soap.

Rosemary comes in a huge variety of "chemotypes" (chemically distinct varieties) from around the world. Some rosemary chemotypes contain more camphor than others, for example. So if you find one type of rosemary EO to be overly sharp or "biting" to smell, don't give up -- another type might have a sweeter or milder aroma.

 

[akseattle]

"...Rosemary essential oil is indeed potent and comes with some precautions. While it can be used in cold process soap, it's essential to use it cautiously and in moderation...."

My years as a college instructor makes me wary of this post -- it sounds nicely impressive and authoritative at first glance, but is far too generic and vague to actually be useful. It sounds suspiciously like it's been generated by AI.

@DeeAnna I don't know if @azam244 's post was or was not AI generated, but for me, I read alot of posts and I read them pretty fast. Especially when a topic is new to me- as most soaping topics are-- I have to take that new information in in small bites. Personally, I would not use AI (in my work, for example) as I wouldn't know where the info comes from and if I could trust what it says.
But, if that post was AI generated, I was the target audience !
I appreciated the suggestion to do a patch test on a small area of skin before using the soap extensively.

 

[Obsidian]

I use rosemary and peppermint EOs neat on my scalp and never have any kind of reactions. Of course I'm just one person but there are others on a hair forum I go to who also use it on the scalp.