In a recent professional discussion regarding dealing with EO
poisoning/overdosing someone made the comment that it was impossible to be
poisoned "using pure therapeutic grade" essential oils. "They are like mother's
milk."
I had contemplated telling this story...the recent comments spurred me to do
it now.
Last week a staff member who does NOT work with the essential oils (and knows
less about them than I had assumed) decided to create a treat for all of us.
She loves Cardamom seeds in her coffee, and often drops several dried cardamom
pods in the basket of her coffeepot. Lacking dried cardamom pods at the
office she took a sample of our Cardamom Seed oil, and poured a few drops into
the coffee basket before brewing the pot. She didn't tell anyone what she
had done.
Christi was the first to sample the brew. She thought it tasted odd, but just assumed someone had bought in a new, exotic coffee and sipped, perhaps, half a cup. Her description of what
happened:
"Initially, my left hand began
itching and swelling, then my arm, neck, back, and chest developed some blotchy
areas and I ended up with a few hives, including on my left cheek. I took two
Benadryl within about 30 minutes of ingestion and had taken a prescription
antihistamine prior to work (unrelated) which probably helped immensely. The
first twelve hours was mainly an itchy, splotchy, hive type event. Later, I
developed a burn on the corner of my lip and in the corner of my mouth and
irritated bumps down the left side of my tongue and into my throat. This
actually occurred into the second day and I also continued itching. By Friday,
the itching had subsided mostly except sporadically, and although fatigued, I
was able to return to work. Note that most all of my reaction was on my left
hand side, which is also where I was most sensitized after the Holy Basil
explosion. Recovery is a process if you are re-exposed to something to which
you are sensitized. You literally can note all of the varied physical reactions
if you are in tune with your body. I still do not feel “quite myself,” as I am a
little light-headed and dizzy and more easily fatigued but that may be due to
all of the antihistamines.
If I had felt asthmatic or felt
my throat closing, I immediately would’ve had someone rush me to the ER. I did
have a friend and my mother keeping close watch over me for at least 12 hours in
case of any other strange developments."
The above was written a week after imbibing the Cardamom
flavored coffee.
The staff member responsible was appalled. "But I put a LOT
of cardamom pods in my coffee." She simply had no idea of the relative
intensity of an essential oil compared to that of a dried herb or spice.
I later did some online research regarding the yield in
essential oil from dried cardamom seeds, not the dried pods, but the tiny seeds
within the pods. The average yield is 5 to 6%. Which means that,
by WEIGHT:
1000 grams of dried seeds would yield 50 grams of essential
oil, which, based on Cardamom's specific gravity, would be 54.38 mls of
essential oil. Which, assuming 20 drops per ml, would be 1087 drops
of EO.
Based on those figures, one drop of Cardamom
Essential oil would equal 20 grams (approximately 0.7 oz) of dried seeds.
So 1 drop of Cardamon Seed Oil is the
equivalent of 20 grams of cardamom seeds. One measuring tablespoon of
ground seeds weighs 5.8 grams.
One drop of Cardamom Essential Oil would
then equal 3.4 measuring tablespoons of ground cardamom seeds. An
AWFUL lot of seasoning.
Now, Cardamom Oil is GRAS (Generally Recognized as
Safe) for food flavoring. But in parts per million. NOT in the quantity
that injured Christi.
Granted, Christi is not the "typical" individual to be
exposed to this overdose of Cardamom oil. As a result of the explosion of
a gallon of Holy Basil oil in our workroom some years ago she
became sensitized to the major components of Holy Basil. We have known she is
sensitized to Eugenol (the major component and characteristic aroma of Clove
oil). What we didn't realize is that she is evidently also sensitized to Methyl
Eugenol; a *minor* component of Cardamom seed oil. And a few swallows of
coffee, very heavily spiked with Cardamon Oil, was enough to trigger a severe
and ongoing allergic reaction.
Of course the staff member who "flavored" the coffee was
unaware of the comparative intensity of the oil and the spice pods. And
perhaps the other members of the staff could have drunk the coffee with no ill
effects. We won't know, since no one else tried it.
PLEASE, when considering internal use of these powerful
healing substances, be aware of their intensity. A drop of essential oil
is NOT the equivalent of a 'normal serving' of spice, or a cup of herb tea, etc.
Look at the proportions above and consider the equivalent of the botanical
before you contemplate taking, or suggesting, internal use of the oils.
