ESSENTIAL OIL

CERTIFICATION:
Quiz: Contamination and
Adulteration
1. If an impure essential oil is used, a person may experience which of the following?
a) Exposure to plastics
b) Exposure to heavy metals
c) Irritation and adverse effects
d) All of the above
2. Essential oils that aren’t thoroughly tested may ___________.
a) Harm the consumer
b) Have reduced efficacy
c) Both A and B
d) None of the above

3. True or false: Adulteration is the unintentional action of lowering the quality of a substance with
another substance.
a) True
b) False
4. What is the most common motivation behind oil adulteration?
a) Increase profits
b) Altruism
c) Extend an oil’s shelf life
d) None of the above

5. Which adulteration is one of the most difficult to detect in the essential oil industry?
a) Addition of synthetic chemicals
b) Addition of natural isolates
c) Addition of vegetable oils
d) None of the above

6. Which of the following is an example of adulteration by adding a natural isolated compound?

a) The addition of synthetic linalyl acetate to lavender
b) The addition of furanocoumarins to bergamot
c) The addition of alpha-pinene from turpentine in pinewood to frankincense
d) All of the above

7. _________ may be dementholized and sold as peppermint oil.

a) Cornmint
b) Spearmint
c) Wintergreen
d) Rosemary
8. Wintergreen adulteration can be detected by _________________.
a) Carbon dating
b) The absence of naturally occurring monoterpenes
c) Petroleum markers
d) All of the above

9. True or false: Contamination is when impurities inadvertently make it into essential oils.
a) True
b) False