A safety question has also arisen. Does anyone know if gum sandarac is
>poisonous? I know you don't want to get it on your hands and then eat
>something, but is it particularly toxic so that one would need to take extra
>precautions? I've never heard anything about it being poisonous myself.
Sandarac is a resin exudate from a pine tree that lives in northern Africa,
Morrocco. The trees botanical name is Callitris quadrivalvis Vent,. Pinaceae.
Its constitution is approximately 80% pimaric acid, ~ 10% callitrolic acid, and
sandaricinic acid.
It is used in tooth cements, lacquers, varnishes and as an incense. In
pharmaceuticals, it is used as na aid in ointments and plasters.
The bottom line is that it is not poisonous or toxic as you had feared, but
proper precautions should be taken when working with it such as keeping it away
from children's reach, removing excess from hands and making sure hands are
clean before ingesting food etc etc.
Also, it is soluble in alcohol, ether, acetone and other solvents. It is
likely that the solvents are more toxic than the sandarac and caution should be
exercised here as well. Use a well ventilated area such as a fume hood or the
like.
Sandarac
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for the use in mineralogy see realgar
In general usage (a use found in Dioscorides), sandarac, or sandarach, is a resin obtained from the small coniferous tree Tetraclinis articulata, native to the northwest of Africa, and especially characteristic of the Atlas mountains. The resin, which is procured as a natural exudation on the stems, and also obtained by making incisions in the bark of the trees, comes into commerce in the form of small round balls or elongated tears, transparent, and having a delicate yellow tinge. It is a little harder than mastic, for which it is sometimes substituted. It is also used as incense, and by the Arabs medicinally as a remedy for diarrhea. It has no medicinal advantages over many of the resins employed in modern therapeutics. A similar resin is produced in China from cypresses, and in southern Australia, under the name of pine gum, from Callitris preissii.
Sandarac may also be used as a name for the tree itself.