Section 1 - CHEMICAL PRODUCT AND COMPANY IDENTIFICATION

PRODUCT NAME

LEMON THYME OIL

NFPA

PRODUCT USE

Food flavour; in oral hygiene products and perfumes; aromatherapy. Because of its high
phenolic content the oil has germicidal and antiseptic properties. Used in medicine as a
carminitive, for dyspepsia and respiratory complaints. Obtained by the steam distillation
of the flowering plant Thymus serpyllum var.. citriodorus (Fam. Lamiaceae)

SYNONYMS

"Wild Thyme extract, thymus serpyllum", "oil of thyme"

Section 2 - HAZARDS IDENTIFICATION

CANADIAN WHMIS SYMBOLS

EMERGENCY OVERVIEW

RISK

Contact with combustible material may cause fire.
Harmful if swallowed.
Causes burns.
Risk of serious damage to eyes.
May cause SENSITIZATION by skin contact.
HARMFUL - May cause lung damage if swallowed.
Flammable.
Vapors may cause dizziness or suffocation.
Toxic to aquatic organisms, may cause long- term adverse effects in the aquatic
environment.

POTENTIAL HEALTH EFFECTS

ACUTE HEALTH EFFECTS

SWALLOWED

  Accidental ingestion of the material may be harmful; animal experiments indicate that ingestion of less than 150 gram may be fatal or may produce serious damage to the health of the individual.  The material can produce chemical burns within the oral cavity and gastrointestinal tract following ingestion.  Swallowing of the liquid may cause aspiration into the lungs with the risk of chemical pneumonitis; serious consequences may result. (ICSC13733).  Ingestion of eugenol and eugenol-containing oils may produce gastroenteritis. Systemic toxicity is similar but less than that of phenol, perhaps because of its relatively insolubility. Aqueous emulsions by mouth induce vomiting in man and dog and promote gastric secretion of mucin.  Poisoned rats exhibited paresis of hind legs and jaw with eventual prostration and coma. Death is believed t have been due to peripheral vascular collapse. Surviving rats showed haematuria (blood in the urine),  Some phenol derivatives can cause damage to the digestive system. If absorbed, profuse sweating, thirst, nausea, vomiting diarrhea, cyanosis, restlessness, stupor, low blood pressure, gasping, abdominal pain, anemia, convulsions, coma and lung swelling can happen followed by pneumonia. There may be respiratory failure and kidney damage. Chemical burns,  seizures and irregular heartbeat may result.  Central nervous system (CNS) depression may include general discomfort, symptoms of giddiness, headache, dizziness, nausea, anaesthetic effects, slowed reaction time, slurred speech and may progress to unconsciousness. Serious poisonings may result in respiratory depression and may be fatal.  An estimated acceptable daily intake of up to 500 microgram per kilogram body weight was estimated for the terpene/ terpenoids, citral, geranyl acetate, citronellol, linalool and linaly acetate (expressed as citral).  Twenty-third Report of the Joint FAO/WHO Expert Committee on Food Additives  Tech. Rep. Ser. Wld Hlth Org. No. 648, 1980.  

EYE

  The material can produce chemical burns to the eye following direct contact. Vapors or mists may be extremely irritating.  If applied to the eyes, this material causes severe eye damage.  Some phenol derivatives may produce mild to severe eye irritation with redness, pain and blurred vision. Permanent eye injury may occur; recovery may also be complete or partial.  

SKIN

  The material can produce chemical burns following direct contactwith the skin.  Skin contact with the material may damage the health of the individual; systemic effects may result following absorption.  Phenol and its derivatives can cause severe skin irritation if contact is maintained, and can be absorbed to the skin affecting the cardiovascular and central nervous system. Effects include sweating, intense thirst, nausea and vomiting, diarrhea, cyanosis, restlessness, stupor, low blood pressure, hyperventilation, abdominal pain, anemia, convulsions, coma, lung swelling followed by pneumonia. Respiratory failure and kidney damage may follow.  Essential oils irritate the skin and redden it, causing at first warmth and smarting, followed by some local loss of sensation. They have been used to treat chronic inflammatory conditions and to relieve neuralgia and rheumatic pain. Care should be taken to avoid blistering; these oils may also produce sensitization.  Eugenol produces local anaesthesia and is a local antiseptic. Contact dermatitis has been produced in dental surgeons during exposure in an occupational setting.  Open cuts, abraded or irritated skin should not be exposed to this material.  Entry into the blood-stream, through, for example, cuts, abrasions or lesions, may produce systemic injury with harmful effects. Examine the skin prior to the use of the material and ensure that any external damage is suitably protected.  

INHALED

  Inhalation may produce health damage*.  If inhaled, this material can irritate the throat andlungs of some persons.  Inhalation of vapours may cause drowsiness and dizziness. This may be accompanied by narcosis, reduced alertness, loss of reflexes, lack of coordination and vertigo.  Inhalation of vapors or aerosols (mists, fumes), generated by the material during the course of normal handling, may be damaging to the health of the individual.  Inhalation of high concentrations of gas/vapor causes lung irritation with coughing and nausea, central nervous depression with headache and dizziness, slowing of reflexes, fatigue and inco-ordination.  Central nervous system (CNS) depression may include general discomfort, symptoms of giddiness, headache, dizziness, nausea, anaesthetic effects, slowed reaction time, slurred speech and may progress to unconsciousness. Serious poisonings may result in respiratory depression and may be fatal.  Inhalation of essential oil volatiles may cause dizziness, rapid, shallow breathing, increased heart rate, respiratory irritation, loss of consciousness or convulsions. Urination may stop, and there may be swelling and inflammation of the lungs.  If phenols are absorbed via the lungs, systemic effects may occur affecting the cardiovascular and nervous systems. Inhalation can result in profuse perspiration, intense thirst, nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, cyanosis, restlessness, stupor, falling blood pressure, hyperventilation, abdominal pain, anemia, convulsions, coma, swelling and inflammation of the lung. This is followed by respiratory failure and kidney damage. Phenols also cause loss of sensation and general depression at high concentrations. The toxicities of phenol derivatives vary.  

CHRONIC HEALTH EFFECTS

  Skin contact with the material is more likely to cause a sensitization reaction in some persons compared to the general population.  Limited evidence suggests that repeated or long-term occupational exposure may produce cumulative health effects involving organs or biochemical systems.  Exposure to the material may cause concerns for human fertility, on the basis that similar materials provide some evidence of impaired fertility in the absence of toxic effects, or evidence of impaired fertility occurring at around the same dose levels as other toxic effects, but which are not a secondary non-specific consequence of other toxic effects..  Long-term exposure to phenol derivatives can cause skin inflammation, loss of appetite and weight, weakness, muscle aches and pain, liver damage, dark urine, loss of nails, skin eruptions, diarrhea, nervous disorders with headache, salivation, fainting, discoloration of the skin and eyes, vertigo and mental disorders, and damage to the liver and kidneys.  In the presence of air, a number of common flavour and fragrance chemicals can form peroxides surprisingly fast. Antioxidants can in most cases minimise the oxidation.  Fragrance terpenes are generally easily oxidised in air. Non-oxidised limonene, linalool and caryophyllene turned out to be very weak sensitizers, however after oxidation limonene hydroperoxide and linalool hydroperoxide are strong sensitizers. Of the patients tested 2.6% showed positive reaction to oxidised limonene, 1.3% to oxidised linalool, 1.1% to linalool hydroperoxide, 0.5% to oxidised caryophyllene, while testing with caryophyllene oxide and oxidised myrcene resulted in few positive patch tests. 2/3 of the patients reacting positive to oxidised terpenes had fragrance related contact allergy and/or positive history for adverse reactions to fragrances.  As well as the hydroperoxides produced by linalol, limonene and delta-3-carene other oxidation and resinification effects progressively causes other fairly major changes in essential oil quality over time. Autoxidation of fragrance terpenes contributes greatly to fragrance allergy, which emphasizes the need of testing with compounds that patients are actually exposed to and not only with the ingredients originally applied in commercial formulations.  Linalool (a terpinoid) is an unsaturated tertiary alcohol. It is a naturally occurring component together with linalyl esters in a variety of fruits, fruit peels, fruit juices, vegetables and spices as for example laurel, coriander seeds and clary sage. The annual worldwide use of linalool and linalyl acetate in fragrances exceeds 1000 metric tons.  For consideration of potential sensitization the exposure is calculated as a percent concentration used on the skin. Exposure to linalool used in fine fragrance products is reported as 4.3% based on the use of 20% of the fragrance mixture in the fine fragrance consumer product.  Experimental studies in laboratory animals combined with advanced chemical analyses have shown that linalool is easily oxidized, and that the content of linalool decreased to about 80% after oxidation for 10 weeks at standardized conditions. One of the major oxidation products was identified as 7-hydroperoxy-3,7-dimethyl-octal-1,5-diene-3-ol. In guinea pig sensitisation studies a sample of oxidized linalool was a significant allergen sensitizing 8 of 15 test animals, whereas controls were negative. Linalyl hydroperoxide is a very strong sensitiser at the 1% level. Further studies have documented the sensitising capacity of linalool and derivatives found commercially available grade of linalool (97% purity) to be a weak sensitiser. When impurities were identified and removed the sensitising capacity was reduced but not eliminated. During storage, linalool undergoes autoxidation, building up products including hydroperoxides such as 7-  hydroperoxy-3,7-dimethyl-octal-1,5-diene-3-ol , which has been identified as the apparent cause allergic reactions on exposed skin. Animal testing data found that with guinea pigs,  ten week old samples of linalool sensitized the animals skin, but highly purified linalool produces no reaction. Auto-oxidation was therefore identified by the authors as necessary for the sensitising process.  Some phenol-based naturally occurring substances, (e.g. phenol, guaiacol, tannic acid, eugenol) undergo conversion to produce derivatives which produce skin (and possibly respiratory) sensitisation. Each of these compounds has phenolic hydroxyl groups which are readily oxidized to produce reactive quinone-like compounds. Phenol is converted in the body to quinone whilst guaiacol (ortho-methoxyphenol) and eugenol (2-allylguaiacol) are converted to the ortho-quinone. Both eugenol and isoeugenol (4-propenylguaiacol) are pro-haptens that require biotransformation to become protein-reactive haptens. Although they are close structural isomers they show markedly different levels of sensitisation and are weakly cross-reactive in in vivo tests. Isoeugenol is a strong sensitiser and eugenol is moderate. It appears that neither share a common mechanism for sensitisation although structural similarities exist. This relates to different mechanisms of biotransformation.  Cinnamaldehyde and cinnamic acid are structurally related to eugenol and isoeugenol; they seen to generate a common hapten and appear to produce simultaneous sensitisation to eugenol and isoeugenol despite being metabolised via different pathways. Buckley et al British Jnl of Dermatology 2006 Vol 154 pp 885-884  The phenolics and related substances permeate the dermis where they undergo bio-  distribution. Phenolic permeation is related to liphophilicity and molecular volume. Phenols are metabolised by cutaneous enzymes or other processes to form reactive metabolites or may be chemically modified through the reaction of UV light. The skin has a wide-ranging metabolic capability which can perform essentially all the metabolic transformation which are know to be carried out in the liver. Metabolic by- products may be haptens and produce sensitisation. Eugenol although a weak sensitiser, in its own right, is oxidised to the highly reactive ortho-quinone. The sensitising principal in poison ivy, a catechol know as urishiol, appears to undergo similar oxidation to produce a reactive hapten. These reactive haptens bind to dermal proteins (haptens are often electrophilic and bind covalently with -NH2 and -SH groups on proteins, modifying the protein which when exposed to the immune system, will react with antigen-presenting cells in the dermis.  Axillary dermatitis is common and over represented in people with contact allergy to fragrances. Many people suspect their deodorants to be the incriminating products. In order to investigate the significance of isoeugenol in deodorants for the development of axillary dermatitis when used by people with and without contact allergy to isoeugenol, patch tests with deodorants and ethanol solutions with isoeugenol), as well as repeated open application tests (ROAT) with roll-on deodorants with and without isoeugenol at various concentrations, were performed in 35 dermatitis patients, 10 without and 25 with contact allergy to isoeugenol. A positive ROAT was observed only in patients hypersensitive to isoeugenol and only in the axilla to which the deodorants containing isoeugenol had been applied. Deodorants containing isoeugenol in the concentration range of 0.0063-0.2% used 2 times daily on healthy skin can thus elicit axillary dermatitis within a few weeks in people with contact allergy to isoeugenol. Bruze et al ; Contact Dermatitis Vol 52, May 2005 pp 7.