Wintergreen and Sweet Birch ** Otherwise Known as Methyl Salicylate (Kinda Long)

[Guest guest]

Hi y'all,

Below is one I wrote in 2002. A second one is on the way. If you think

this is long you oughta have seen it afore I cut half of it out. ;-)

These two oils are not adulterated but they're not natural .. among the

adulterated are those that are adulterated WITH a bad heart; stretched

or blended with crap, etc. in order to increase profits .. and then

those that are adulterated or manipulated WITHOUT a bad heart like 40/42

lavender, the terpeneless oils, the FCF bergamot and such .. then there

are those like the above two oils that are synthetic from the git go.

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When we talk about Wintergreen we gotta talk about Birch too.

If we believe that almost all Sweet Birch and Wintergreen are made with

synthetic Methyl salicylate ... we have it right. ;-) Honest chemists

will say there is no such thing as " real " Birch and Wintergreen oils on

the market cause they've never seen one .. and they're the ones who are

good at making them .. so we gotta believe them.

In January 2000, a chemist wrote this about Birch to one of the lists:

" ** the bark doesn't have any volatile oil in it in the first place.

The oil can only be obtained by soaking the macerated bark in warm water

for a period of 12-24 hours. Volatile salicylates are formed via a

glycosidic reaction of the bark with water. ** This extra processing

step, in addition to the overall low yield, is another reason why birch

oil production is basically cost prohibitive. Not to mention that this

is an oil that's more dense than water and these types of oil require

significantly longer distillation times, adding even more to the cost.

*** its so easy to make methyl salicylate synthetically (it costs about

$2/lb in bulk) and there is no difference between synthetic and natural

methyl salicylate since there are no chiral centers in the molecule.

Even chiral GC analysis can't tell the difference. *** this is the

product usually sold as birch or wintergreen. " UNQUOTE

So .. pure Birch/Wintergreen will cost more than we wanna pay because

its a costly process to make it .. plus there's no need to produce it

naturally as it can't be easily detected by analysis and the body uses

it badly regardless of the source so the chemists produce the oils the

buyers want and Aromatherapists aren't the buyers of most oils.

The production of EO supports the fragrance and flavorings industries.

The pharmaceutical industry uses some and AT uses less than 5% of most

oils produced - in some cases less. For example, Lavender, Rose and

Mints are grown for the fragrance/flavorings industries and though AT

might use 5% of the Lavender, they use less than 1% of the Mint and Rose

Otto. Wrigley's buys hundreds of tons of Mint oils annually and the

Turkish Rose Otto producers sell Rose Otto to perfumeries each year.

Not much Wintergreen or Sweet Birch is used in AT so producers make it

so its acceptable to the ones outside AT who are buying it.

Back in January 1999, someone asked if distillers of Wintergreen and

Sweet Birch were dishonest .. and a chemist replied:

" The industry doesn't consider it dishonest because it has become

accepted that Birch and Wintergreen are interchangeable with Methyl

salicylate. So the big producers assume that the people they are

selling to already know this. But some of the buyers don't realize this

and think that just because it says " Birch " that is must be the true

oil. Then they pass it on to their customers (unknowingly) as the true

oil. Its not that they're trying to deceive anyone, they don't know any

better. I personally don't believe the oil exists. " UNQUOTE

If the oils produced from the soaking process described above are to be

considered as natural, then we can consider gasoline as natural since

the process for producing it from crude oil is, from a philosophical

point of view, similar.

Some might say that I oughta also consider Blue Chamomile not natural,

but I don't agree. Granted, Chamazulene is not present in the growing

plant. Its present as a precursor which decomposes when distilled and

then it forms chamazulene. BUT this happens DURING distillation ..

unlike the process described above that occurs PRIOR to distillation.

When Chamomile is distilled, we're talking about artifact formation and

substances with funny names that are present in chamomile flower heads

and chamazulene carboxylic acid and decarboxylation during steam

distillation, etc. - but its all a part of the distillation process.

There is no essential oil in Birch trees, but Chamomile is different in

that an essential oil does occur in the plant. Distillation changes the

natural oil's chemistry but that occurs with all distilled oils to one

degree or another. If we wanna be pedantic we can say the azulenes are

semi synthetic, but in truth they are conversions of chemicals occurring

in the plant that have similar therapeutic activity.

If we take it further we can say the creation of an essential oil is not

natural in the first place since there's no distillation in nature, it's

a man-made thing. Ad a matter of trivia, similar chemical processes to

distillation occur in the stomach. Herbalists have used chamomile as

an anti inflammatory herb for thousands of years. Just recently it was

realized that the same precursor chemicals were heated in the stomach

and probably converted into azulene the same as we get in the oil.

Bottom line .. Birch and Wintergreen are never less than 98% Methyl

salicylate - and generally 99% plus. Methyl salicylate is an effective

pain reliever - that's why its used in so many medications for pain.

But that doesn't mean it's safe. There are MANY scientific studies

documenting Methyl salicylate poisoning .. and it's as high as 60%

fatal. I won't use it or sell it to others - period!

And yes, they smell good and they help with pain, but we can be poisoned

from the arthritis medications a doctor might prescribe as well as from

some products we make yourself.

In August 1999, a research scientist wrote on a list:

" Taken from the article I wrote on birch oils for the International

Journal of Alternative and Complementary Medicine.

SAFETY ISSUES IN THE UK

Little information seems to be available on the salicyclate-containing

birch oils themselves, but Tisserand and Balacs (1995) detail many

scientific studies concerning the oral and dermal toxicity of methyl

salicylate and wintergreen, and these warnings can be extrapolated to

B. lenta and B. alleghaniensis. Thus, studies are quoted which document

that if applied to patients who are also receiving warfarin as an

anticoagulant, internal hemorrhaging may occur; and that if applied for

a period of time, convulsions and gastro-intestinal damage may result.

Boyd (1992) states that symptoms of oral methyl salicylate poisoning

are related to age, amount consumed and whether consumption is acute or

chronic, but may include acid-base imbalance, central nervous system

toxicity and altered glucose metabolism.

Heng et. al. (1987) describe the case of a man, aged 62, who spent a

year in hospital after using a proprietary ointment containing

wintergreen and menthol and then applying a heat pad. The treatment

resulted in severe blistering, a high temperature, muscle weakness and

interstitial nephritis.

Topical application of Methyl salicylate has also resulted in poisoning

in humans due to transdermal absorption (Price, 1998).

Sylla Sheppard-Hanger (1997), a US aromatherapy teacher and author,

states, using data from Watt's Safety Manual Plant Aromatics,

that methyl salicylate has been shown by the Research Institute of

Fragrance Materials to be moderately toxic, irritant and sensitizing,

and that it is one of the few chemicals that has been shown to be

quickly absorbed into the bloodstream when applied dermally.

Book references: (Snipped .. but available if someone wants them).

Also, in January 1999, a chemist wrote: " All I can say is that every

commercial sample of these oils that I have ever analyzed was 99.9% or

better methyl salicylate. I don't care what the industry tries to tell

you, essential oils are NEVER that simple. You can believe it if you

want but I sure don't. " UNQUOTE

Around 40 some odd years ago, in his book " Perfume and Flavor Materials

of Natural Origin " , Arctander wrote: " Birch bark oil used to be one of

the 'big items' in American essential oil production (annual production

was about 200 tons prior to World War I). The oil has almost completely

lost its importance by now and it is merely a curiosity. What the trade

offers today under the label of 'Oil of Sweet Birch' may very well be a

'touched up' methyl salicylate from a chemical factory. " UNQUOTE

Don't start running from Birch .. different ones have totally different

chemical profiles. Betula lenta and Betula allaghensis (or Sweet Birch

or Yellow Birch) are the ones with the high methyl salicylate content.

Sweet birch and Yellow Birch .. and Wintergreen, are dermal toxins - you

don't have to ingest them to get sick. But Betula alba (White Birch or

Silver Birch) contain no methyl salicylate and have totally different

uses and totally different aromas than the other two.

Despite all the info from the pros, and the abundance of evidence about

toxicity of methyl salicylate that can be found in many sources - like

the Tisserand and Balacs, " Essential Oil Safety " , and a chapter on

Wintergreen in , " Adverse Effects of Herbal Drugs " , edited by De Smet,

and in Watt's, " Plant Aromatics " , some folks just don't wanna

accept the facts about Sweet Birch and Wintergreen and if you burst

their balloons, they might try to shoot the messenger.

RECAP:

Methyl salicylate is one of the few chemicals that we know absorbs well.

The oils being discussed are made with Methyl salicylate because it is

inexpensive and producing the " real " oils is expensive .. we get less

than one gram of oil from a pound of material. There are 454 + grams in

a pound so we can see that a yield of less than 0.25 percent is

incredibly expensive. The yield for Rose Otto is one kilo from 4,000+

kilos of rose petals .. about the same, and there is no pre preparation

required in hydro-distillation of rose petals - we harvest them, dump'em

in a still, then run a cohobation distillation and produce a fine

product that sells for $6,500+ a kilo.

I present this data to further point out the logical necessity of the

industry to use synthetic Methyl salicylate .. the selling prices of

Wintergreen and Birch oils supports this position.

Preparations containing Methyl salicylate are effective pain relievers -

and Methyl salicylate is used in many medications for pain. But that

doesn't mean it's safe - doesn't mean you and I can use it effectively

as can the experienced and professional OTC medication manufacturers.

And .. in another post you will see how they hood wink us too!

Methyl salicylate is a dermal and oral toxin and there is nobody in the

world of chemistry or medicine that will tell us otherwise, but that

doesn't mean we're gonna fall down and die the first time we use it.

But in concentration, and/or with frequent use, Methyl salicylate does

make people sick, and it can be fatal if the overdose is high.

Methyl salicylate builds up in the body so using the same amount every

day is in effect giving ourselves a higher and higher dose. There is

no disputing that such build up can cause permanent damage to the liver.

I'm not smart enough to tell folks how to use it and I know that many

folks aren't as smart about EO as I am - so I don't sell it.

Claims of " real " Birch and Wintergreen oil are hard to disprove if one

disregards the economically responsible logic I've presented above.

They are difficult to prove because tests to determine authenticity

would require isotopic studies ... even chiral analysis really won't

prove anything. The cost of chiral analysis is BIG BUCKS and the better

tests are even BIGGER BUCKS!

Its NOT impossible to obtain true Sweet Birch or Wintergreen - but its

not feasible nor is there a reason to do so because Methyl salicylate is

one of those very few chemicals that the body will handle badly be it

from a chemist's lab or distillation process. Substituting Methyl

salicylate that costs a few bucks a pound is no more unsafe than the

natural products .. and it is not unethical unless we claim it is the

real thing and it's not.

Folks will believe what they want .. but its wise to have an inquiring

mind and make informed decisions. Just because other folks believe

something doesn't make it right .. especially in an industry that has a

foundation of marketing hype, misinformation, disinformation and rumor.

Y'all keep smiling, Butch http://www.AV-AT.com