Talk:Pennyroyal

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Are there any sources for the claim that one woman died from ingesting two teaspoonfuls of pennyroyal oil and/or for the Guatemalan group unable to produce any children because of cooking with the plant accidentally?

According to this article there was a death from pennyroyal oil back in 1978:

"Author Susun Weed cautions, however, that the pennyroyal extract Kris consumed should not be confused with highly concentrated pennyroyal oil, which caused the death of a Colorado woman in 1978. The woman, who suspected she was pregnant, was admitted to a Denver hospital two hours after drinking two one-half-ounce bottles of pennyroyal oil."

The NIH Medline page (which probably should be linked to the article) also mentions a death, but there's no definite reference to either the 1978 or 1994 deaths.

Does anyone know the outcome of the Kris Humphrey lawsuit? Did they come to any conclusion re: pennyroyal extract or did they settle out of court?

Have not seen a confirmation of the Guatemalan group. Longdaysjourney

Have added another link to a review of the medical literature re Pennyroyal Toxicity. I think the Guatemalan reference should be taken out unless we can source it. Longdaysjourney 07:36, 25 February 2006 (UTC)

Re: Sterile Guatemalan tribes, I did a cursory search for evidence of this and haven't found anything yet. It's quite a hefty claim to make without any evidence to support it. 2 June 2006

Contents

[edit] Guatemala tribes claim

Since the Guatemala tribes claim made me initially suspicious (it has too much of the "those ignorant savages" attitude about it) and it seesm to have done the same for others, I've moved it to here for now:

There have been confirmed reports of tribes in Guatemala being entirely unable to create a new generation of children due to the accidental usage of Pennyroyal in their cooking.[citation needed]

--Saforrest 14:09, 10 July 2006 (UTC)


[edit] Mentha pulegium or a Hedeoma in Pennyroyal, Kentucky?

Isn't the Pennyroyal region of Kentucky, mentioned in the last paragraph, most likely to have got its name from either Hedeoma pulegioides, the American False Pennyroyal, or Hedeoma hispida, Rough False Pennyroyal?

I say this because these two are definitely American species present in Kentucky,

[Hedoema pulegioides distribution]
[Hedoema hispida distribution]

whereas the Pennyroyal in this article is European, and although it has been introduced to the United States, Kentucky is not marked on the USDA website as being one of the states,

[Introduced Mentha pulegium distribution].

If it is named after a Hedeoma rather than the Pennyroyal here, the comment should be on that page.

Thoughts? Bumper12 23:48, 26 June 2007 (UTC)

Have now moved the Kentucky statement to the Hedeoma pulegioides page, as the Pennyroyal region in Kentucky is named after that and not Mentha pulegium. Bumper12 00:58, 15 July 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Clean up

As well as removing advice, I am moving the paragraphs about fleas, ants and spiders here, as there is no source:

The oil is also used as a flea repellant for pets. This latter usage is the origin of the plant's Latin species name, the flea being Pulex irritans.[citation needed] However the distantly related American Pennyroyal or Hedeoma pulegioides is the source of much of what is called pennyroyal oil. [citation needed]
Sprinkling the dried form of the herb is also known to repel spiders. The oil can also be used to deter ants.[citation needed]

--Hroðulf (or Hrothulf) (Talk) 11:43, 6 August 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Pennyroyal in the Demeter Myth

According to the Homeric Hymn to Demeter, Demeter was given a drink called kukeon made from water, barley and pennyroyal by Metaneira. It is thought consumption of this drink was part of the initation ritual for the Eleusinian Mysteries. Worth adding perhaps? Thomaschina03 (talk) 12:01, 11 April 2008 (UTC)