Kobashi Essential Oils Testing

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	Beyond the call of duty.
For all our oils: the analysis is continued far beyond the last component that is expected in the oil. This enables us to check for unexpected components in the oil, be they indigenous to the oil, adulterants that have been added, or unwanted contaminants such as phthalates.		2) Head-space (Volatiles) analysis This type of analysis involves warming the oil and analysing the vapour that is released. Once again, the analysis is carried out using GC-MS. This method gives information about the most volatile components (or top notes) of an essential oil, some of which may be too volatile to be analysed accurately using ‘normal’ GCMS. This method is also particularly useful for the identification of solvent residues in the oil, such as benzene, ethanol, ethyl acetate, hexane or pentane. Standard Analysis GC Details GC 5890 system Oil solution; 50 ul of oil in 2ml pentane (acetone to clear if necessary) Injection volume; 1ul, splitless Column type; HP5-ms low bleed, 59.23m,0.22mmID, 0.25um film thickness Carrier gas; Helium Flow rate; 1ml/min , 25.9cm/sec Pressure; 186 Inlet temp. oil dependent Detector temp. 280 degrees Centigrade. Better understanding essential oils.

The analysis of essential oils is often carried out without this type of extended run-time analysis in order to save time and money. As such, certain components that are present in the oil may be missed. Additional Testing 1) Phthalate analysis. Some essential oils have been found to contain compounds called phthalates. These compounds are present either as trace contaminants, or in some cases intentionally added to bulk-out the oils and aid volatilisation. There is considerable concern as to the safety of these compounds (see the www.greenpeace.org website for further details). As such, one of the analyses that we carry out on our oils is to look for any phthalate present in the oil using a pseudo-SIM method which is extremely sensitive to these compounds (as low as 2 parts per million).