Is Volck Oil Toxic?

February 17, 2013, by Debra Lynn Dadd

Question from JAD

I run a native plant nursery and we try to be chemical free. 

One of the volunteers has brought in volck oil. I looked it up and it is 97% petroleum oil. 

We have 3 Chemical Sensitive volunteers and one complained about feeling ill after being in the nursery 5 days after this product was used. Do you think this could still made her ill. I have had a headache this last 10 days and have been puzzled why and maybe this is it? 

Before I mention to everyone not to use it I would like some Professional help on what to tell them. 

Thank you as always. 

Debra's Answer

I'm looking at the MSDS for Volck Oil and it says, as you noted, that it is 97% mineral oil. Mineral oil is not very toxic, but it is made from petroleum and anything made from petroleum could cause a reaction in someone with MCS, regardless of the toxicity.

But I'm more concerned about the "inert ingredients." The MSDS says:

This product contains a petroleum distillate. Due to the low viscosity of petroleum distillate, it can directly enter the lungs if it is swallowed (this is called aspiration). This can occur during the act of swallowing or when vomiting the substance. Once in the lungs, the substance is very difficult to remove and can cause severe injury to the lungs and death.

This product certainly could cause symptoms.

A safer thing to do would be to just get plain mineral oil and spray that on the plants for pest control. Since mineral oil is the active ingredient in Volck oil, it should work just fine. You don't need those toxic chemicals.