Raymond Carolyn A, Davies Noel W, Larkman Tony
Southern Cross Plant Science, Southern Cross University, Military Road, PO Box 157, Lismore, New South Wales, 2480, Australia.
Central Science Laboratory, University of Tasmania, Churchill Ave, Sandy Bay Hobart, Tasmania, 7005, Australia.
Anal Bioanal Chem. 2017 Mar;409(7):1779-1787. doi: 10.1007/s00216-016-0134-4. Epub 2017 Jan 11.
Tea tree oil distilled from Melaleuca alternifolia has widespread use in the cosmetic industry as an antimicrobial as well as for other functions in topical products. Concerns were first raised by the European Commission's Scientific Committee on Consumer Products in 2004 about the level of the potentially carcinogenic phenylpropanoid compound methyl eugenol in tea tree oil. Limits on oil content in different types of cosmetic products were set based on a reported upper level of 0.9% methyl eugenol in the oil. A previous publication indicated that these levels were based on oil from a Melaleuca species not used in the commercial production of oil. Even the highest recorded levels in Melaleuca alternifolia, the overwhelmingly most common species used, were ∼15 times less than this, meaning that more oil could be safely used in the products. The current study, including details on methodology and reproducibility, extends that work across a suite of 57 plantation-sourced oils from a range of geographical locations and production years, as well as many Australian and international commercial oils. Lower levels of methyl eugenol in oils of known provenance were confirmed, with a recorded range of 160-552 ppm and a mean of 337 ppm. Analysis of variance showed methyl eugenol levels in Australian plantation oils to be correlated to the geographical region but not to the year of production. Average methyl eugenol levels in commercial oils were significantly lower, and these samples were divided into an authentic group and a group that were suspected of being adulterated based on an independent test. Authentic commercial oils had similar levels of methyl eugenol to Australian provenance material, whilst the oils classed as suspect had significantly lower levels.
从互叶白千层中提取的茶树油在化妆品行业中广泛用作抗菌剂以及用于局部产品的其他功能。2004年，欧盟委员会消费品科学委员会首次对茶树油中潜在致癌的苯基丙烷类化合物甲基丁香酚的含量表示担忧。根据报告的油中甲基丁香酚含量上限为0.9%，设定了不同类型化妆品中的油含量限制。先前的一份出版物表明，这些含量是基于一种未用于商业生产油的白千层属植物的油。即使在互叶白千层（使用最广泛的常见物种）中记录到的最高含量也比这个含量低约15倍，这意味着可以在产品中安全地使用更多的油。当前的研究，包括方法学和可重复性的详细信息，将这项工作扩展到了来自一系列地理位置和生产年份的57种种植园来源的油，以及许多澳大利亚和国际商业油。已证实已知来源的油中甲基丁香酚含量较低，记录范围为160 - 552 ppm，平均为337 ppm。方差分析表明，澳大利亚种植园油中的甲基丁香酚含量与地理区域相关，但与生产年份无关。商业油中的甲基丁香酚平均含量显著较低，根据一项独立测试，这些样品被分为正宗组和疑似掺假组。正宗商业油中的甲基丁香酚含量与澳大利亚来源的材料相似，而被归类为疑似的油含量则显著较低。
