How to check the quality of an essential oil? Is it within reach of anyone or do you need a BAC+5 in organic chemistry? From the point of view of an aromatherapy expert or a trader, the knowledge to be accumulated in order to master the quality of these products must be both specialized and broad. But from the point of view of an essential oil user, it is entirely possible to sort things out, to separate the good bottles from the mediocre, or even the bad. This is the objective of this guide: to make you independent in the critical analysis of the quality of an essential oil.
This article was updated on 08/06/2023Essential oils are natural products, with powerful therapeutic virtues and generally have a high market value. The supply available on the essential oils market is therefore very diverse in terms of quality, for 3 main reasons:
The subject of the quality of essential oils is therefore a very critical subject. This is not about nitpicking, but about real impacting factors. The objective of this article is to help you find your way if you are looking 100% natural, pure, therapeutic grade essential oils. To learn more about quality variations intrinsic to essential oils, go here:
First of all, let's chemically clarify the facts. A plant containing pesticides will yield an essential oil containing pesticides. Distillation does not filter out pesticides, and these are unfortunately present in essential oils. The use of pesticides in organic farming is very regulated and more restricted than in conventional agriculture: the few authorized phytoprotective substances have in common that they are devoid of intrinsic toxicity. In addition, organic regulations require these substances to be used only as a last resort, when no other preventive measures can be implemented. Unlike a plant grown conventionally, an organic plant therefore presents a low risk of containing pesticide residues.
From a physiological point of view, it must be remembered that the bioavailability of essential oils is excellent: this means that the components of essential oils are very quickly present in the tissues and the blood network. This is what makes them strong, and their potential toxicity. If you have pesticides in your bottle and you use this bottle for therapeutic purposes, you will therefore administer pesticides (you do not know which ones) where they can act directly, without a filter. The use of non-organic (conventional) essential oils for treatment must therefore be absolutely avoided, for health reasons above all.
If you are looking for therapeutic quality, we also recommend that you avoid any brand that distributes organic and conventional essential oils depending on the product. This often happens, these brands adopting the ORGANIC label for references where the price difference is not significant (Tea Tree, Peppermint, Ravintsara, etc.), but switching to conventional essential oils as soon as the price difference is greater. important, for reasons of raw material cost (Italian Helichrysum, Chamomiles, etc.), difficulty of supply, etc. This is a weak signal for the brand as a whole, which is deliberately located in a less therapeutic area (well-being distribution, soaps, detergents, etc.).
From the point of view of biodiversity, it is also valuable to defend organic sectors, which are prohibited from using synthetic pesticides and fertilizers. And for good reason, pesticides have a strong impact on terrestrial fauna, herbicides are responsible for the decline of many flowers and seeds essential to many species of insects and birds and nitrogen fertilizers have negative impacts on biodiversity. aquatic. In fact, we find on average 30% more species and 50% more individuals in organic farming plots than in conventional plots.
Finally, from the point of view of fraud control and traceability, you should know that the requirements of organic certification, even if they are not sufficient, contribute to greater control of the quality of essential oils. A 100% ORGANIC brand assures you that monitoring processes are in place, and that these are regularly audited (twice a year on average). This makes it possible to avoid a large number of fraudulent batches, which are much more numerous in conventional batches than in ORGANIC batches. For example, at the moment, almost all batches of conventional wintergreen on the market contain around 30% synthetic methyl salicylate. In ORGANIC, the fraud rate on this product is much lower.
To conclude : should you only use organic essential oils to treat yourself? For all the reasons cited above, this seems pretty obvious. Going further, we could even say that we should favor brands that only sell organic essential oils for any therapeutic use.
Chemotype is a word commonly used in aromatherapy jargon, but its interpretation varies and continues to evolve depending on the professionalization of the sector. Originally, this word designated the necessary distinction that had to be made between a Thujanol Thyme for example, and a Thymol Thyme, and this distinction therefore only concerned a few species: thymes, rosemary, lavender, etc. .
Today, when we talk about a chemotyped essential oil, we are talking about an essential oil whose following 3 components are known to the manufacturer and specified on the label:
A chemotyped essential oil is therefore an essential oil defined, even on the label, on these 3 criteria: botanical (precisely) + composition (approximately) + origin (precisely). If you want to benefit from therapeutic virtues via essential oils, orally or through the skin, the use of chemotyped essential oils is essential, for reasons of efficiency, but also of security. So check your bottles carefully, and strongly favor brands indicating the origin of the lot sold.
Your essential oil is ORGANIC, it is chemotyped: this is already very good, and rather rare. If you use this essential oil to purify the air in your home with a diffuser, or for a DIY cosmetic cream recipe, it is of sufficient quality. If you're waiting for therapeutic use, you're almost there. You still have to check brand transparency concerning the analyzes it carries out for each batch.
Within the framework given above, the following analyzes should be carried out and analyzed for each batch of essential oil, in order to reject those who do not meet expectations.
Of course, the established control plan should not be reduced to these analyses, but in terms of systematic analyses, batch by batch, we have a sufficient basis here.
As there is no certifying body for this quality requirement, voluntary brand transparency on its specifications and the tests it carries out for each product is decisive in the trust you can place in it.
If we summarize: to ensure the therapeutic quality of an essential oil, it is therefore above all necessary that it be certified organic, that his chemotype is specified and verified (that it is chemotyped), and finally and above all that the results of its analyzes are accessible.
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Publication: Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2021/1165 of 15 July 2021 authorizing the use of certain products and substances in organic production and establishing the list of those products and substances (Text with EEA relevance ), (OJ July 16, 2021).
Publication: Bengtsson J., Ahnstrom J., Weibull AC, 2005. The effects of organic agriculture on biodiversity and abundance: a meta-analysis. Journal of Applied Ecology 42:261-269.
Publication: Hole DG., Perkin, AJ, Wilson JD, Alexander IH, Grice PV, Evans AD, 2005. Does organic farming benefit biodiversity? Biological Conservation 122:113-130.
Work : de la Charie, T. (2019). Treat yourself with essential oils. Why and how does it work? Editions du Rocher.
This aromatherapy article was written by Théophane de la Charie, author of the book “Treat yourself with essential oils”, accompanied by a multidisciplinary team made up of pharmacists, biochemists and agronomists.
La Compagnie des Sens and its teams do not encourage self-medication. The information and advice provided comes from a reference bibliographic database (books, scientific publications, etc.). They are given for information purposes, or to suggest avenues for reflection: they should in no case replace a diagnosis, consultation or medical follow-up, and cannot engage the liability of the Compagnie des Sens.