How do you know if your essential oils are pure? It’s a really important question.
There is always controversy to be found on the internet when a product is associated with a direct marketing company. dōTERRA is no different.
After 15+ years of working with a variety of essential oils (and many experiences of getting inconsistent quality from several companies) there are only two companies I will now recommend and buy from.
One is Mountain Rose Herbs which is an online retail company I partner with that provides certified organic and wild harvested herbs and essential oils. I use these oils for aromatic 
purposes for cleansing my home and office and many other practical purposes. I feel reassured to know they are certified organic. I do not take these oils internally, however, because they do not provide the food label on any of the oils indicating they are safe for internal use.
The only other company I get my oils from is 
dōTERRA which is a company that does extensive scientific testing to ensure all oils are certified pure therapeutic grade, many approved for internal use with a food grade label on those containers and many supplements containing those oils which contribute to health.
Though I am not a fan of network marketing/direct marketing/MLM, I have come to see that there are a few of these companies that simply provide the best quality products available. dōTERRA is one of those and I’m going to tell you why.
dōTERRA has set a new standard in the essential oil industry. I sincerely hope other companies will follow suit. If you are going to use essential oils, it is imperitive to only use 100% pure, therapeutic grade oils from a company you can trust without fail.
It is crucial to keep contaminants out of the oils. It is equally imperitive that we ensure active compounds are in the oils at the right levels, to guarantee safety and effectiveness.
Many oils claim to be therapeutic grade, and some may be pure, but few are subjected to the same level of rigorous testing standards as dōTERRA’s to assure the highest levels of potency and purity.
Like many essential oil companies, dōTERRA’s Certified Pure Therapeutic Grade essential oils are cross tested using mass spectrometry and gas chromatography to ensure both extract purity and composition potency of each batch.
dōTERRA goes above and beyond the standards by testing every single batch of oil received by their distillers in a third party testing lab. Additionally, they perform several other tests and comparative analysis on our oils to maintain the pure therapeutic grade.
Gas chromatography measures the constituents in a particular essential oil sample by plotting the items on a graph. When heated, the different constituents vaporize at different rates of time. The gas chromatograph measures the constituents by how long they take to vaporize and how much of each constituent is in the sample.
Mass spectrometry is used along with the gas chromatography in order to get a more accurate reading of the sample material. After the GC is finished reading the different vapors, the compound is passed into the Mass Spectrometer where the vapors are sorted by their mass-to-charge ratio, weighed, and then the results are also charted. In other words, the GC separates the sample into its individual constituents, and the MS identifies them and the percentage with which they make up the sample. Secondary comparative analysis of known chemical structure allows for detailed review of the source of each compound in the sample.
Infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) identifies the chemical bond functional groups by the absorption of infrared radiation that excites vibration modes in the bond. It identifies the chemical bonds of organic materials as well as any organic contaminates contained in the sample.
Heavy metal testing shows the amount of heavy metal content in the essential oils. It is very important that the essential oils used to support health and wellness are obtained from plants grown in soil that are free of heavy metals and other types of toxicity so that these substances aren’t absorbed into the plant material.
Organoleptic testing is the evaluation of the essential oils by their physical and aromatic properties by appearance, color, flavor, and odor.Microbial testing is also the evaluation of the essential oils by their physical and aromatic properties by testing for any bacteria, yeast, mold, etc that may be present.
Although testing is very important, sourcing of the essential oils is key in producing pure grade oils. I love that Mountain Rose Herbs tells you the locations from which their herbs and plants are harvested. I also love how dōTERRA works closely with a global network of leading essential oil chemists and growers to select botanicals of the correct species, grown in the ideal environments, and carefully harvested at the right time. The aromatic compounds of the plants are skillfully extracted by experienced distillers and subjected to chemical analysis to ensure purity and composition.
For internal use and neat application to the skin I feel confident that dōTERRA’s certified pure therapeutic grade essential oils represent the safest and most beneficial oils available today due to the extensive testing and global network.
If you’d like to know more about essential oils and how to use them, sign up in the blue side bar above for your FREE Essential Oils 101 Guidebook!
Be well!
Lynn Louise Wonders
