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SAFETY: All products containing natural therapeutic ingredients should be protected from extreme conditions - keep them cool and away from direct sunlight. (Warmth and light will increase the speed at which the product ages and becomes less effective.) This is particularly true of the neat Essential Oils - they should always be supplied and kept in amber glass bottles, and should be stored cool and away from sunshine.
There is evidence that Tea tree in particular will oxidise under poor storage conditions and there will be an increase in components that may cause skin irritation; however whether this really does represent a significant practical hazard is open to debate. It is a contentious issue, and by no means settled. However, it is true to say that Tea tree remains extremely safe and effective if stored sensibly. It should probably be discarded after 2 years anyway. Nothing is completely safe and this includes natural Essential Oils such as Tea tree. Neat Essential Oils and products containing a high concentration of them should be handled with caution for several different reasons:
The oils are poisonous if ingested and should only be used topically.
They can be very irritating to the eyes. So keep away from eyes, rinse eyes well if there is any contact, and seek medical attention if at all worried that the eyes are being affected or if discomfort continues...
Keep the products away from polished or varnished surfaces, or from plastics - they can cause damage.
All Essential Oils are supplied in amber glass bottles fitted with dropper inserts, and should remain in them. The insert not only helps accurate dropwise application of the oil, but limits the amount lost as spillage if the bottle is knocked over. They also limit the amount consumed by a child before it decides the oil is too ghastly to continue drinking it!
Caution should be exercised before using neat Essential Oils on the very young or the very old. It is to be expected that their tolerance of such products will be very much less than that of a healthy adult. Similarly, it is probably wise to avoid neat oils during pregnancy.
The formulation of effective products is a battle to achieve a balance between so little therapeutic ingredient that the product is useless, and so much active ingredient that it causes harm. And that struggle is complicated by the fact that not all individuals are alike - some may have little ability to tolerate the levels of essential oil that are necessary for any therapeutic effect.
A small number of people are allergic to the Essential Oils and will experience a skin reaction even at low concentrations. Others may experience an irritant reaction only if they use the oil at high concentrations. Irritant reactions are generally less likely if more dilute product is used (eg creams & powders).
What is important is that anyone encountering any product that is new to them should do so with caution. This is particularly important with 'atopic' individuals - that is, people with an individual or family history of allergies. Anyone with a history of asthma, hayfever, eczema, dermatitis etc should always be very careful about any new products. (It is said that people with blond hair and/or pale skin seem to be particularly at risk of reactions to new products, but everyone should be questioned and cautioned about allergic reactions before use commences.).
The safe way to commence the use of any new product is to use just a small amount, and to apply it on a small area that is not particularly sensitive. Only continue to regular and sustained use if there is no reaction. This is particularly true of concentrated therapeutic products or neat Essential Oils. Be cautious, and don't risk a bad reaction! If you buy the product to sell on, you must be careful to pass on this advice to your customer.
Remember, if you or your customers suffer an allergic reaction, it doesn't mean that the product is at fault. It means that the person and the product together are a bad combination. We can't stop using things just because the occasional individual has a bad reaction to them - there are even people who have shown allergic reactions to water!!! What we all need to do is to be careful about our first contact with new substances and use something else if we have to.
It should also be remembered that if ever someone demonstrates a reaction to a product, that it may be because they have been previously 'sensitised' by a different product containing a similar ingredient. The subject of cross-sensitisation is even more complex - for example people can demonstrate allergies to some antibiotics because of previous exposure to textile dyes (and vice versa).
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