Essential Oils Testing — Is it Reliable?
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If you haven't noticed, there has been a lot of hubbub on the internet about everything about essential oils these days. There are loads of blogs telling you that their oils company is the best one and my blog series about my search for the best essential oils company has been extremely popular. Often, in posts about oils, you are urged to sign up with a direct sales company to makes money selling oils, or at least to get your oils for free.
There are essential oils remedies, recipes, “Medicine Cabinet Makeovers,” information about antibacterial essential oils, and testimonials galore.
One thing that comes up over and over again regarding essential oils, however, is GC/MS testing and in this post we're going to talk about that in more detail.
We'll learn:
– What GC/MS testing is
– What GC/MS tests tell us
– What GC/MS testing's limitations are
What is GC/MS Essential Oil Testing?
GC/MS testing is Gas chromatography–mass spectrometry.
What does that mean, you ask?
Basically, here's what a GC/MS test does:
1. The essential oils are injected into an apparatus with a tube. The tube is coated with material that has different affinities for different chemicals at different temperatures.
2. The temperature of the apparatus is gradually increased.
3. The oil vapors are moved through the apparatus to a detector at the end of the column.
4. The detector responds to the vaporized parts of the oils by printing out proportional peaks on paper.
5. The height of each peak corresponds to the amount of each component of the oil.
6. Components are identified by the time at which the peak prints out on the paper.
7. The data for each oil can be compared with standards, or “fingerprints,” for each essential oil to make determinations about purity and other qualities of the oil.
Complex, but pretty neat, huh?
Basically, you get data about what components are in the oils and how much of each component there is.
S0–does that mean that if a company does GC/MS testing, that you can buy their oils and be sure you are getting “the real deal“?
And does it mean the if a company's GC/MS tests come out within industry standards that you should feel comfortable using them?
Maybe.
Limits of Essential Oil Testing
Essential Oils Can Be Adulterated in Ways that GC/MS tests cannot determine.
a. Adding synthetics: For example, if synthetic linalyl acetate is added to pure Lavender Oil, a GC-MS analysis cannot tell whether that compound is synthetic or natural, only that it is linalyl acetate.
b. Heating: Some oils are heated to burn off more “herby” smells, as with Peppermint.
c. Redistilling – Some oils are redistilled to make their fragrance more appealing. I talked about this in this post.
d. Blending of oils to Save Money or Get Uniform Smell
i. An “expert” might dilute a more expensive lavender with a less expensive lavender in order to sell the less expensive oil for a higher profit.
ii. Sometimes customers complain that their oil “doesn't smell like it did before.” That can be a good thing, because oil smell should vary a bit–depending on weather, time of year, amount of water, etc. However, sometimes oils are blended with other batches to avoid this kind of customer complaint.
I would rather have my oils vary in smell than have them mixed with other oils.
Read more in this post about many of the essential oil myths out there regarding essential oil purity.
Standards for GC/MS Testing Don't Tell the Whole Story
When using the standardized guides and GC/MS testing, there are ranges that components of the essential oils are supposed to fall between.
For example, terpinen-4-ol is the active ingredient in tea tree oil that is supposed to be the most therapeutic. When tea tree oil undergoes GC/MS testing, the compliant range for terpinen-4-ol is between 30 and 48%, and the “compliant range” for terpineol is 1.5 – 8%. So the compliant range for the two combined is 31.5 – 56%.
However, since terpinen-4-ol is the most desired healing component of tea tree oil, some distillers have figured out ways to distill tea tree oil in order to have the resulting oil have a greater percentage of terpinen-4-ol.
Main Camp Natural Extracts claims to be “the purest tea tree oil in the world.” Now, I don't know about “purest” but they do have some pretty strong tea tree oil. Their terpinen-4-ol + terpineol is a minimum of 75% (according to a document on their site) and it typically is over 80%. That clearly is well outside of the GC/MS guidelines.
So Main Camp's oil would not test compliant with GC/MS testing, but it seems to be a valuable tea tree oil, nonetheless.
Depending on what you think about the method they used to extract more terpinen-4-ol, you may or may not want that oil, but this example just goes to show that having more of an active ingredient in an oil might make the oil more therapeutic without it testing “compliant” on a GC/MS test.
Sacred Frankincense is another oil where this is done. Some distillers can apparently tweak the advanced tech extraction that will just extract greater proportions of the anti-cancer component in frankincense oil. The resulting oil won't test compliant with GC/MS testing, but it is technically “more therapeutic.”
GC/MS Testing Does Not Directly Reflect Soil Quality
GC/MS testing only tests volatile (those that evaporate rather quickly) chemicals.
Such testing can't make allowance for whether or not a plant was grown in soil with quality nutritional components.
We all know that organic farming practices yield higher quality produce. As such, one would expect that the same would hold true for essential oils–we would expect that essential oils grown in high quality soil would have more therapeutic benefits.
GC/MS Testing Does Not Test for Many Environmental Toxins
Since GC/MS testing can only test for volatile chemicals, it won't test for heavy metals or other toxins that are heavy.
What kinds of toxins won't show up on a GC/MS test? (I don't want any of these in my oils–ick!)
a. Trace amounts of iron from an iron distiller might break off and end up in the oil.
b. Radiation
c. Heavy Metals
d. Heavier Pesticides
e. Pollution components
f. Heavier chemicals from fertilizers
There are lots of things that could be in essential oils that I know I don't want on my body, because there are lots of oil-soluble chemicals, pesticides, etc. Of course, you might think that a small amount of toxins might not be a big issue, but over time it can accumulate, especially if you are using the oils frequently. And with our toxic environment, why add anything to the burden you and your family are already under?
Also you might be purchasing organically grown oils, but if the farm is next to a heavily-polluted area, the plants will likely be polluted.
Something to think about: Would you want an essential oil that was grown on toxic waste that passes the GC/MS reference standards, or would you rather have an essential oil grown organically that does not meet the testing standards for some reason?
I know which one I would want ;-).
Conclusion
Remember back in my series about my path to choosing the essential oils company that my family would use?
Along the way, I heard all kinds of things about testing and certifications, some of which the oils companies made up themselves.
Well, testing is important.
But so are a lot of other things.
Here are the things that I recommend you look for in an oil company:
Signs of a Quality Essential Oil Company
1. Experience
2. Purity
3. Plants grown in indigenous locations
4. Organic and/or wild-crafted when available
5. Most plants are grown in remote locations where no pesticides, herbicides, or harmful chemicals are used and only natural fertilizers are used.
5. Reasonable shipping prices
6. Reasonable pricing
7. No solvents used
8. No artificial oils sold
9. No adulterating (no heating, blending, adding or further distillation of oils)
10. Sourced from Small Farms, if possible
11. Common Sense Approach to oils – no “over-recommending” of essential oils use.
There are so many essential oils companies to choose from that it can be hard to know where to go to buy quality essential oils.
You can go to this series to see the company that I went with when trying to find the “best” essential oils. You can also skip to the final post here.
Want More Information About Essential Oils?
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What do you think? I'd love to hear your thoughts!
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I have been reading your series about essential oils with great interest. Generally, I think they are very well thought out articles.
I do have a techincial issue with this particular article. As an analytical chemist, you have the GC/MS part right and what is missing is what is wrong. Gas Chromatography (GC) is the proportional measurement of peaks. Mass Spectrometry (MS) is what is missing. This is where the component of the eluted peak is broken down (by various methods, a common technique is ion bombardment). The fragments of the peak are stitched together by an analytical chemist with a computer, like putting puzzle pieces together, to figure out what the original molecule is..
You cannot “fool” Mass Spec, it is considered a definitive answer and can detect subtle differences like the same chemical group attached at the same locus pointing up or down,
Hi there and sorry for the delay in getting back to you.
This is the reply from someone at Native American / Rocky Mountain. I hope this helps.
I am sure for something as complex as an essential oil, substituting synthetics is certainly something a dishonest vendor would attempt. I agree that certain companies look for ways to fool analytical tests…. There is established history on that, and I follow how it has been done in the past and why it was not initially detected.
Still, it is not accurate that a person conducting a mass spec analysis can jimmy results by altering the instrument’s “settings”. If someone is telling you that, they are trying to pull the wool over your eyes.
Hi again. Perhaps this will help:
I am not suggesting that the testers are “jimmying” results. Rather they are in the position to choose what things to test for and what not to test for.
GC/MS IS a valuable part of testing essential oils but it isn’t the only part of it. There is so much more a consumer needs to do to ensure they are getting the best oil they can possibly get. That is what the post is about. It is about being aware of other things you should pay attention to when choosing an essential oil company.
Hi Adrienne, thanks again for responding.
I am very familiar with mass spec, and I am in no way confused about what mass spec is or how it works. As I said in my first post, I am an analytical chemist. You have described in your very nice article how a Gas Chromatograph works… the separation of volatile components and analyzing based on proportionality. I was simply trying to clarify that the only way to fool mass spec is to not run it at all in case someone at a company was trying to BS your investigations.. But I think, as you suggest, that this is tangential and getting away from the point and I apologize for the diversion.
You are exactly right, there are a lot of things to be aware of when choosing an essential oil company
Thanks again for a very interesting and informative series of articles..
Thanks so much!
Adrienne,
First, I want to thank you for doing all this research. Like you, I am an avid reader who likes to do her own study before making a decision, but you got me pointed in some very helpful directions (and I’m sorry you had to take an entire blog post to defend yourself from detractors. I think you were very fair, even if everyone–surprise!–didn’t agree with you). I am coming into this late. I have found at least one other company that also meets your criteria (although I must confess I haven’t read every response and it may have already been mentioned).. The best part of that is that they carry different oils and make different blends, and I love having the opportunity to purchase what I want from each. But your guidance on what to look for allowed me to weed out some of the companies (those on your blog and others) much more quickly than I would have otherwise been able to. If you are interested in what else I have found, please pm me. I also have to say we haven’t had any miraculous cures yet, but then I got my first oils beyond Peppermint, Lavender, and Tea Tree a couple of days ago. When purchasing from NAN I’ll try to remember to go through your site first. Thanks again. Amy
Thanks so much!!! I hope you like them if you try them. More on oils to come!
Hello and Good morning,
Hi Adrienne 🙂 like your other readers I am also new to essential oils. Right now I am using a company calle the Ananda Apothecary based in Boulder, Colorado. They sell therapeutic grade essential oils. Like NAN, they also have details and explanations of where the essential oil came from, distillation and selection processes as well. Would you be able to check them out and give us your opinion on this? Thank you so much!
Licelle
Hi there. I am sorry but I can’t comment on individual companies for several reasons – mainly legal. I did not care for the fact that they used to offer free shipping for positive reviews, however. You can look at this post https://wholenewmom.com/health-concerns/toxic-overload-health-concerns/essential-oils-testing-is-it-reliable/ to see if they measure up and if you go here you can get a new free guide on essential oils:
https://wholenewmom.com/10-things-you-need-to-know-about-essential-oils-before-you-buy/
Thank you for your time and effort this was very informative and perfect timing! I was just wondering if I need to struggle to make sure I used expensive oils because they were better quality. I usually use mountain rose herbs. You did touch on them a bit and it was mostly positive but I was wondering if you found out anything else about them? I get quite a few products from them and I like them all and haven’t had a problem with them. I just always wonder if the quality is good because I’ve never used any of the really expensive brands to compare with. Thanx again for you information!
I really struggled re: Mountain Rose Herbs. I was originally told they weren’t OK to use internally b/c they weren’t produced in a food grade facility and then later was told that wasn’t the case. I haven’t been able to find out enough about their sourcing. For now I am sticking with Native American Nutritionals and there is more about NAN that I really like – they are doing great work empowering those in 3rd world countries. I hope to share more about that. Thanks!
I’m just wondering if you have an essential oils resource guide that you use or recommend? I have just ordered my oils and diffuser from NAN and I have been looking online for a good, reliable source that also addresses safety issues. It looks like it may be difficult to find a quality book or guide that isn’t company-specific (such as doTerra’s guide). The book/guide on the NAN website didn’t get good reviews from what I saw.
Thank you!
HI and sorry for the delay -I am swamped here. I just wrote a small guide that might help but not I have added books to the bottom of the oils posts that I think look fabulous – I hope to write more soon.
Here is the short guide: https://wholenewmom.com/10-things-you-need-to-know-about-essential-oils-before-you-buy/
Do you have a recommendation for the equivalent of YL Progessence Plus in a non MLM company? THanks!
Native American has a progesterone cream. They have a free shipping offer today as well.
I just wanted to say, i think it’s terrible so many people do not truly read and comprehend your blog. They must have not achieved their reading comprehension level beyond the 3rd grade. So many people complain saying that your not recommending looking at the tests, which you never did!. I see you waste so much time replying to those who have minds to little to comprehend your wise words. I would like to apologize for them on their behalf so you may know there are people out there who do appreciate you, can understand you and hope you continue the good and hard work you do. Thank you for all you do! Best Wishes!
You’re words are appreciated. Thanks much.
I was hoping to find a good resource for essential oils, being new to them. What I found was a ton of arguing and long drawn out banter. Also, I like your blog but way too much advertising. And are you selling and making a profit from a certain essentional oil company that is posted on your blog at every break? Not sure. Very confusing for me. I am not a genius – I like straightforward blogs with direct anwers. Your blog sends out a lot of energy and a little bit of in your face attitude. Not trying to be rude.
Jenny
Hi Jenny.
I am sorry about the arguing but believe me, I didn’t start it. It all came on when I suggested that doTERRA had a different distillation method and that I couldn’t get a consistent answer from their company and their scientist came over with others to argue about me. I felt they took things to a very low level and that I really had no choice but to bring it front and center. I am sorry you felt that way.
Most bloggers would just delete the dissenting comments, but I try to never do that. I feel that if folks want to get ugly / combative then I will publish their comments and respond.
As for the advertising, I am not clear what you are referring to. Are you saying that you think I link to Native American Nutritionals too much?
I can say that I was told that I could make $8000 per month (or more) with doTERRA and I am not making anything close to that with Native American. I chose what I thought was right and that’s the only way to do things.
I don’t know how to respond to your comment about “energy” but I assume you mean it is negative? I don’t mean to do that. If you have a suggestion I am happy to hear it.
The same with the “in your face” attitude. It would be more helpful to me if you could give me an example.
I was very frustrated with the treatment I received from many during the series and many have commented that they thought I handled the accusations in a kind manner. Believe me, it wasn’t easy all the time.
Thanks,
Adrienne
I have been reading all of your essential oils posts and enjoying them very much. I am an organic chemist and have spent years performing and teaching GC-MS and even purifying my own essential oils at times. I’m pretty impressed with your GC-MS explanation as a non-chemist!
I am new to home use of essential oils. I purchased some DoTerra oils but I have felt very unsure of their quality based on all the evidence I’ve seen. I am wanting to teach my friends and family about the chemistry and use of essential oils and will check out NAN. Do you think they would every be willing to begin a large-scale affiliate program? I feel like there is so much misinformation out there about essential oils, I’m really wanting to help out those around me who want to learn more…
They have been talking about this. Are you looking at being an affiliate on your blog?
Yes, actually!
I know I’m really late to this post, but wanted to add a thought. Wanting to educate oneself or others about essential oils is great, but in my opinion, for education to start out and remain truly unbiased and objective and fully informed, it needs to be completely and utterly free of any commercial interest whatsoever. This is why Education and Sales are poor bedfellows and always have been. “Product” Education (translation: product sales) and Aromatherapy education are two vastly different animals. If you really want to educate people about EO’s, the more legit way to do that is to take a certification course in aromatherapy that ISN’T linked to any brand or corporation. NAHA is a good starting place for info on education.
Hi there. I would add that NAHA charges for membership so right there there is commercial (money making) interest. You can pay up to the tune of $1,000 to be a Grand Donor. They have all kinds of benefits associated with those memberships so of course they aren’t “utterly free of any commercial interest”. I wonder if their directors make any income from their positions or if they are completely voluntary. Even non profits that seem to have a completely “altruistic” focus can be incredibly self-serving. I have seen the payroll for groups like Komen and even EWG (which I tend to like — EWG; not Komen) and those in leadership make a TON of money.
When I was an independent insurance salesman I made it a point to not know the commissions on the products that I sold. Of course I had a general idea that if I sold 30 year term I would make more than a 10 year term policy, but I didn’t know the exact percentages so I wouldn’t be swayed b/t one company and another. I really really try to keep my interest in income out of the mix so that I remain as unbiased as possible. That being said, if I find a company that I want to represent and I can make money from it, I will – otherwise I will not be blogging anymore. My expenses are huge and I spend an inordinate amount of time. So….I am writing this b/c it seems your response is directed at me and I wanted to explain more about my situation. Thanks.
Hi, I think its great that you are seeking a company to make money with, more power to you! But I wasnt commenting on that, I was commenting on your stated desire to educate others about EO’s. I think you make good points about NAHA and all non profit entities, but Ibwasnt recommending that people get their aromatherapy education directly from NAHA… NAHA posts a list of schools that they and ARC endorse. Many of those schools are NOT sellers of essential oils nor are they tied in any way to any EO distributors or corporations. In other words, their only “product” is EDUCATION on aromatherapy, not essential oil merchandise. That’s what I meant by ” utterly free of commercial interest,” I meant commercial interest in selling OILS and related products. I maintain that educating the public while selling product related to that “education” poses inherent ethical dilemmas and conflicts of interest, naturally. Best way to educate others is to seek one’s own education thru actual schools, not thru corporate “product education” posing as objective education on the safe and effective use of EO’s. My comments were directed to everyone, it’s just that your post was the one that brought up the topic of educating others, so I thought my comments would make the most sense as a reply to your post. And needless to say, these are just my own opinions, I’m aware that there are millions of people who see no problem with the idea of co-mingling public education with product sales… I just respectfully disagree with those millions. 😉
Thanks for the clarification, Maya. I appreciate it. I think there are likely more ties than meets the eye, however, in all arenas of business and “education”. Just the NEA itself is riddled with corruption and financial interest.
Hi Adrienne,
I have recently started getting into EOs and spent what seems like millions of hours reading multiple articles and blogs online trying to find the best company. As with most people, I want to use a company that has fair prices and, good customer service, and is ethical. I don’t mind paying more for an oil as long as it is pure. That being said, I started with the family physician kit from DoTerra. I have had a great experience and the oils smell amazing…but as I became increasingly obsessed with frankincense, I once again started doing more research, as DoTerra’s is SOOO expensive. My research led me to NAN and I decided to order from them, and wasn’t pleased by how any of their oils smelled in comparison with DoTerra. The only ones I could compare were frankincense and lavender, but all seemed to have a very medicinal/alcohol smell to them. Obviously, smell isn’t everything – I want the oils I purchase to be effective more than anything, but it was a little bit of a let down in any case. Can you shed any light on this, since you have used and know about both companies? Does DoTerra add or blend to make their oils smell so much better than the others?
Also, do you have any information on a company called Florihana from France? I have read good things about them, and since the French have been in the EO game for such a long time, I was thinking of giving them a shot, but didn’t want to deal with shipping if it wasn’t a reputable company.
Thanks for all you do! EOs are so exciting and frustrating all at the same time – it’s nice to get some help!
Lulu
I read about them but I forget now. I think there is something in the comments. Just read my GC MS post and see if they measure up. I should write another post soon.
I don’t care for DT’s scents b/c they are all similar to me which strikes me as odd. There is a lot of talk on the internet about the French adulterating. I can’t say if it’s true or not but there’s an awful lot of chatter about it.
Thank you — I did read this on your blog but I was wondering if you did any research on bulk apothecary.
I will ultimately do my research and then make a decision.
Thanks for your response.
Charlotte
I am sorry but I am so swamped w/ oils questions. They buy from experts for sure which I am not thrilled about. Check out my essential oils testing post for more info on what I look for. Thanks!
Hi Adrienne,
I’m new to essential oils and read your blogs! I definitely am impressed like many of the other moms.
I like NAN also.
But I just looked at your store on your website and it shows you sell oils by Young Living!! I’m confused! Are you?
I was selling the oils I had left – is that what you meant? They are gone except for 1/2 a bottle of wintergreen.
Thanks for replying Adrienne. I didn’t realize that! 🙂