As the rising cost of health care increases families are looking for alternatives. Currently, the countries estimated spending on healthcare is over $3 trillion. One product that families are turning to is essential oils. An article in the New Yorker “How essential oils became the cure for our age of anxiety” shares that two companies alone have a billion dollars in annual sales. But what is the cost to our environment?
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Don’t get me wrong I believe in the benefits of essential oils. I have invested time and money to be educated. The more I learn the more I have discovered, they may be costing us more than just money from our pocket books.
Benefits of Essential Oils
Do a quick search on Pinterest and you will find recipes and articles sharing the benefits of essential oils. One of the most disturbing searches is “aromatherapy cancer”. Doing that search you will find articles and recipes that advise you to use Frankincense. All this information has misrepresented Frankincense essential oil. There has been some research done but much of it determines it is not the essential oil that can help. Please read the article at the Tisserand Institute to learn more.
Environmental cost
For me the most disturbing part of the above cancer cure is that frankincense is classified as “near threatened” or “vulnerable” in a search of the IUCN Red List. To make a half ounce (15ml) bottle of Frankincense essential oil it takes approximately 6 pounds (3 Kg) of resin IF the resin yields at a high rate. It takes approximately 40 years before a Frankincense tree is viable for tapping. While this oil does have beneficial properties the advice to use it for everything is careless!
The reckless issues aren’t just affecting Frankincense. In 2017 one of the big companies was fined $760,000 for Lacey Act and Endangered Species Act violations. They were illegally trafficking rosewood and spikenard oil. These trees are also listed on the threatened species list.
Today we can walk into a store and purchase just about anything we desire. This ease of buying though has caused a disconnect with where items actual come from. It is important to remember as we enjoy those fragrant little bottles just how much plant material it takes. As an example, Rose (Rose x damascena) takes about 30,000 blossoms to produce a 1-ounce bottle (The Heart of Aromatherapy Butje pg. 106).
The next time you consider purchasing anything take a moment to consider how you will use it. Are you going to use that 15ml bottle before it expires? Do you know enough about it to use it responsibly?
