The Claim: Breathing a mist of essential oils through a device that resembles an e-cigarette, or organic herb extracts through a refillable vaporizer, can promote calm and well-being, companies say.
The Verdict: There is at least preliminary scientific evidence for positive effects of many of the essential oils and herbs in the new blends. The aroma of lavender essential oils, for example, has been found to calm people before a medical procedure. However, the bulk of the research has been on ingesting the herbs and oils, not breathing them.
“If something works in a pill form, does it work in an inhaled vapor type form? The answer is, it’s not known,” says Stephen W. Bent, a professor of medicine at the University of California, San Francisco. Dr. Brent says a 2006 review article he wrote found valerian root when ingested by mouth “may improve” sleep quality.
MONQ Therapeutic Air, $20 from MONQ LLC of Nashville, Tenn., is a sleek-looking disposable vaporizer that comes in seven organic essential-oil blends. For example, Sleepy MONQ contains lavender, lemon grass and valerian. A lithium battery inside heats the blend, which also has vegetable glycerin that makes a cloudlike mist; a crystal lights up on the end when you take a puff.
MONQ recommends not inhaling the mist, but rather breathing it in your mouth and exhaling through your nose, so the aromas pass over your olfactory bulb, which transmits smell information from the nose to the brain, says company Chief Executive Eric Fishman, an orthopedic surgeon. He prefers to call the product a “personal essential air diffuser” rather than a vaporizer, and says it provides similar benefits to strolling in a forest and inhaling the calming natural aromas.
Elixir Vape LLC, of Long Beach, Calif., offers four liquids in its Epothecary line, $20 to $22 for a 30-milliliter bottle, with blends of flavors, such as crème caramel, and herbal extracts including well-known substances widely used as oral dietary supplements. For example, Awake is pitched as offering “natural energy, clear mind” and contains green tea, yerba maté and ginseng.
The liquids, which also contain a mix of vegetable glycerin and propylene glycol, can be used in any vaporizer with a refillable tank, says company co-founder Brendan Kavanaugh. Vaporizers are hand-held, battery-powered devices, generally either cylindrical or rectangular in shape.
So far there have been no reports of severe lung diseases caused by using vaporizers, but there is still “a great deal of uncertainty” about the long-term risk, particularly of inhaling flavorings into the lungs, says Dr. Jonathan M. Samet, a professor in the department of preventive medicine at the University of Southern California.
Several of the ingredients in the MONQ products have been shown, at least in preliminary studies, to have benefits as aromatherapy. Lavender aromas were found in a study published earlier in September to help reduce anxiety in patients scheduled for breast-cancer surgery. And the aroma of ylang ylang essential oil, contained in the company’s Zen MONQ blend, was shown in a small 2004 study to lower blood pressure and pulse, and improve feelings of alertness.
A number of Elixir Vape’s products, such as green tea, have been mainly studied for use when ingested. Mr. Kavanaugh says the herbal extracts, when inhaled, will travel to the lungs and enter the bloodstream through the alveoli.
Components of both Elixir and MONQ products also could potentially be absorbed through the skin of the nose and mouth, says Candy Tsourounis, a professor of clinical pharmacy at USCF’s School of Pharmacy. But how much is absorbed depends on the size and other properties of the molecules, she says. That makes it impossible to assume that breathing the substances will yield the same benefits seen in studies on ingesting products, such as St. John’s wort, which has been shown effective for depression in some standardized preparations, Dr. Tsourounis says.
Although good quality organic botanicals may be safe to eat or take orally, it isn’t clear if they are safe when exposed to heat in a vaporizer and inhaled directly, particularly for long-term use, Dr. Tsourounis says. MONQ heats liquids to 215 degrees Celsius; Elixir liquid temperatures will vary depending on the device used. After mixing with room-temperature air, the mist hits the mouth at about room temperature, MONQ’s Dr. Fishman says.
Another concern is that published studies, such as a report earlier this year in Tobacco Control, show teens who vape are statistically more likely to start smoking cigarettes. Dr. Richard Miech, a professor at the University of Michigan’s Institute for Social Research in Ann Arbor, is studying whether vaping flavored liquids that don’t contain nicotine, which is popular among teens, is a bridge to smoking.
MONQ and Elixir Vape say they try to discourage people under 18 from buying their products. MONQ’s purchase page has a check box that requires you to say you’re 18; Elixir’s terms of service when buying say you must be 18. Both companies say they plan to add further verification.
When I tried MONQ, I didn’t notice any effect on my mood, though I did enjoy using the product. Hours of use resulted in irritation in the back of my throat, severe dry mouth and the runs—all of which are side effects occasionally seen in users, says Dr. Fishman, who keeps a list of side effects reported by customers on the company’s website. MONQ’s instructions recommend taking two or three puffs, two or three times a day—not using it continuously as I did.
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