Separating Rosemary Oil from Rosemary Extract for safe lists

[JediMasterThrash]

Is there any research to backup the claim that Rosemary Extract is unsafe for hermit crabs?

I did a bit of research, and the two compounds in rosemary extract are:

caffeic acid
rosemarinic acid

I can't find any information on either being a pesticide or insecticide, or otherwise harmful to crustaceans.

However, I did find evidence that caffeic acid has been falsely listed as hazardous on old datasheets, which may be where the "unsafe" label came from.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Caffeic_acid
Now, there are old experiments that showed caffeic acid to be a carcinogen. However, recently those old results were discredited, as it was bacteria in the rats' stomach that caused an increase in stomach, and not a direct result of normal amounts of caffeic acid.

It's actually an excellent antioxidant, and is actually a carcinogenic-inhibitor (prevents cancer), along with many other health benefits.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rosmarinic_acid
Rosmarinic acid is actually a dimer or caffeic acid, and is an anti-oxident as well.

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On the other hand, Rosemary Oil is an insecticide. Rosemary is actually a type of evergreen, so that comes as no surprise I guess.

However, rosemary oil is not the same thing as rosemary extract. I guess this is like that aloe oil vs. aloe skin argument. Supposedly the oil is extracted from the flowers, while the extract is extracted from the leaves.

Rosemary oil contains α-pinene, borneol, β-pinene, camphor, bornyl acetate, camphene, 1,8-cineole and limonene.

Additionally, A large amount of rosemary oil is necessary to kill just the tiniest mites, and the lethal compounds are so volatile they don't stay lethal for more than 2 days. It's doubtful that trace amounts would affect a hermit crab. I'd bet the beneficial affects would outweigh the bad at trace levels.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rosemary_Oil
The wikipedia entry even lists that rosemary essential oil and whole leaves could be harmful to humans. However, this just goes to show the difference between the extract of caffeic acid vs. the essential oils, where caffeic acid is beneficial as an antioxidant and carcinogenic-inhibitor.

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So my tentative conclusion is that Rosemary leaves and Rosemary essential oils would be harmful to crabs. But Rosemary Extract may be beneficial.

[Guest]

Very interesting information JMT.

[Kilimanjaro]

Interesting stuff, JMT, as usual. A very good read and hopefully more study will go into it eventually.