16h • General discussions
Aromatherapy Maths
When it comes to Aromatherapy Maths, there is a lot of confusion around it, especially for those outside the Aromatherapy world. I apologize in advance for the maths in this post.
For example, we know that Eucalyptus globulus essential oils contain around 50% to 85% 1,8 cineols (eucalyptol).
This percentage of 1,8 cineole makes up the entirety of a 10ml bottle of pure Eucalyptus Blue Gum oil.
However, when we are adding lets sa,y 5 drops of this oil (let's say it contains 85% 1,8 cineole) to a blend, do those 5 drops still contain 85% 1,8 cinole?
In standard medicinal preparations, the percentage of a chemical constituent is based on the volume of the medicine, specifically expressed as % w/v or as volume in volume (% v/v).
So an example of this would be a bottle of 100mls of medicinal liquid with 5% active constituent - w/v would be lets say, 5 grams of a constituent in a 100ml solution.
If you dilute this solution further into a 200ml solution, the amount of active constituent would be 2.5% (2.5g), not 5%.
This does not seem to be the case with Aromatherapy, or at least that is what has been indicated to me, though no one has truly explained this clearly and rationally to me yet in an aromatherapy context. I have been told that if a chemical constituent is 85%, then no matter the volume you are blending 15mlx, 30mls, 100mls the chemical constituent will always remain 85%.
This is what confuses many non-aromatherapists, as logically, the more you dilute a formulation, the lower the percentage of the chemical constituents should be, which would therefore affect dosage.
Using the standard medicinal preparation example from before, let's say 10mls of the 5% medicinal solution is the daily dose. If you diluted it to 200mls, the daily dose changes to 20mls a day in order to get a full dose.
This also plays into formulation.
If I am making a respiratory salve with Eucalyptus globulus containing 85% 1,8 cineole and Ravintsara, which contains 50% 1,8 cinole, using the confusion aroma maths that is often taught, your final formulation would contain 135% 1,8 cineole.
This is why I personally am not a fan of formulating based on percentages; it is confusing and not precise.
Wouldn't it make it more accurate and more sense if our GC/MS reports and formulations worked with micrograms based on volume?
For example, let's say that for every 1ml of Eucalyptus globulus, it contains 600,000 micrograms (mg) of 1,8-cineole, and for every 1ml of Cinnamomum camphora contains 36,800 micrograms of 1,8-cineole.
If we make a formula containing 4 drops of Eucalyptus and 2 drops of Ravintsara, and if we estimate that there are 20 drops of essential oil per 1ml, then the amount of 1,8-cineole in our formulation would be calculated as:
Eucalyptus 600,000mg divided by 20 = 30,000mg multiplied by 4 = 120,000mg.
Ravintsara 36,800mg divided by 20 = 1,840mg multiplied by 2 = 3,680mg
120,000mg ( 4 drps Eucalyptus) plus 3,680mg (2drps Ravintsara) =123,680mg 1,8 cineole in final formulation.
I hope this all makes sense.
I would love to know everyone's thoughts on this dilemma, as I know of many new Aromatherapy Students who come from other Health Modality backgrounds who have asked questions like this but have received unsatisfactory responses from their Aromatherapy Teachers.
0
0 comments
Aromatherapy Maths
powered by
skool.com/maverick-aromatherapy-3200
Putting your health back in your hands.... through Complementary Therapy and Essential Oils for novices and therapists alike.
Suggested communities
Powered by