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Eucalyptus Globus Essential Oil as Penetration Enhancer: Safety?
Hi there, I’ve come across a number of studies showing that eucalyptol (1,8-cineole) is a great penetration enhancer. See: http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/jphp.12334/full
At the same time there are articles stating that eucalyptus essential oil is highly toxic, with an oral lethal dose as low as 3.5ml. See: http://medical-dictionary.thefreedictionary.com/eucalyptus+oil
I find it baffling that none of the penetration studies that I’ve seen have mentioned this so far.
Does anyone have any experience or insights into whether this can be safely used? If so at what percentage in formulations?
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6 Replies
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There’s nothing baffling about it at all … it is very different to use 0.5% Eucalyptus Oil in a topical cosmetic than it is to ingest Eucalyptus Oil. There are many ingredients that you can put on your skin that you should not eat.
Eucalyptus Oil has been used for hundreds, if not thousand of years. You’re good at anywhere for 2% on down, depending on your intended use and cosmetic format.
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In my professional opinion, unless you are able to have in-vivo safety testing run on your product, penetration enhancers are never safe to use.
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Good point Bob, I also saw this study reporting toxicity from topical eucalyptus oil: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/9838728
Needless to say I agree on safety testing.
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FYI: Eucalyptus is FDA GRAS for use in food products and inhalers
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Hey Mark, I forgot to say that I also agree with your point, the poison is definitely in the dose!
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No problem Silkster … It’s just struck me as odd that the toxicity report you referenced had a total sample size of only 1 human being who reacted to a “home brew” containing Eucalyptus Oil… quite the exception rather than the rule
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