Apiol, also known as liquid apiol or green oil of parsley is the extracted oleoresin of parsley, rather than the distilled oil. Due to its similarity to the term apiole, care should be taken to avoid confusion. [1] Apiol is an irritant and, in high doses, it can cause liver and kidney damage. [2] Cases of death due to attempted abortion using apiol have been reported. [3] [4]
Hippocrates wrote about parsley as a herb to cause an abortion. [5] Plants containing apiole were used by women in the Middle Ages to terminate pregnancies.[ citation needed]
Its use was widespread in the US, often as ergoapiol or apergol, until a highly toxic adulterated product containing apiol and tri-ortho-cresyl phosphate (also famous as the adulterant added to Jamaica ginger) was introduced on the American market.[ when?][ citation needed]
Now that safer methods of abortion are available, apiol is almost forgotten.[ citation needed]
- ^ Shulgin, Alexander T. (April 1966). "Possible Implication of Myristicin as a Psychotropic Substance". Nature. 210 (5034): 380–384. Bibcode: 1966Natur.210..380S. doi: 10.1038/210380a0. PMID 5336379. S2CID 4189608.
- ^ Amerio, A; De Benedictis, G; Leondeff, J; Mastrangelo, F; Coratelli, P (January 1968). "La nefropatia da apiolo" [Nephropathy due to apiol]. Minerva Nefrologica (in Italian). 15 (1): 49–70. OCLC 100396864. PMID 5736450.
- ^ Quinn, Louis J.; Harris, Cecil; Joron, Guy E. (15 April 1958). "Apiol Poisoning". Canadian Medical Association Journal. 78 (8): 635–636. PMC 1829842. PMID 20325694.
- ^ Hermann, Kate; Le Roux, Anne; Fiddes, F.S. (June 1956). "Death from apiol used as abortifacient". The Lancet. 267 (6929): 937–939. doi: 10.1016/s0140-6736(56)91522-7. PMID 13320936.
- ^ Sage-Femme Collective (2008). Natural Liberty: Rediscovering Self-induced Abortion Methods. Natural Liberty. ISBN 978-0-9645920-0-1.[ page needed]
- David, T.J.; Randall, S.C. (January 1974). "Fetal malformations: A hazard of attempted abortion". Forensic Science. 4 (1): 71–73. doi: 10.1016/0300-9432(74)90079-x. PMID 4852037.
- Eid, Ahmad M.; Jaradat, Nidal (14 February 2020). "Public Knowledge, Attitude, and Practice on Herbal Remedies Used During Pregnancy and Lactation in West Bank Palestine". Frontiers in Pharmacology. 11: 46. doi: 10.3389/fphar.2020.00046. PMC 7034419. PMID 32116721.
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