In article ,
Gautam Majumdar wrote:
On Sat, 21 Aug 2004 06:24:18 +0100, Curious wrote:

Is sandalwood poisonous if eaten?

Can't say about sandalwood as a whole but sandalwood oil is not poisonous
to humans. It is used in various medicinal preparations of the Ayurvedic
(ancient Indian) system.

Geez mate, that hardly proves it's not poisonous!

In fact, many lethal compounds are used in medicine for the very
reason that they are extremely biologically active. I hardly need
mention they need to be used with precision and caution.

Mind you, it's possible that sandalwood oil is relatively safe.
Indeed there is some data on the Australian product from _Santalum
spicatum_ that has found no serious problems:
http://www.aromarich.btinternet.co.uk/sandalwood2.html

But, mind you again, that page is from an aromatherapy site, so
perhaps should itself be taken with a grain of salt. ;-) E.g. see:
http://www.users.globalnet.co.uk/~no...********books7.
htm

At http://www.wrc.net/phyto/Chandana.html there is an indication of
possible toxic effects from _S. album_ oil:
quoting
Toxicity: Possible cytochrome p-450 inducement in high doses long term
(Jones et al 1994). Essential oil reported to have a "baneful effect
upon the kidneys" in larger doses (Nadkarni 1976, 1102).
/quoting

The references are given on that page -- and it might be noted that
the article by Jones et al. actually referred to quandong (_Santalum
acuminatum_).

Cheers, Phred.

--
LID