Is eucalyptus toxic? The latest answer is here

Eucalyptus is the collective name for all species in the Eucalyptus genus, with about 808 species and 137 subspecies or varieties, among which more than 100 tree species have important economic uses. Its forest establishment period is shorter than that of pine and Chinese fir, and it can be grown and utilized in five to seven years. Together with the fast-growing forest tree species pine and poplar, it is listed among the world's three major fast-growing tree species recommended by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. Now let us take a look at whether eucalyptus is toxic!

Is eucalyptus toxic?

Eucalyptus is not toxic. Research by the Eucalyptus Research Center of the State Forestry Administration shows that eucalyptus is not only non-toxic, but can also be directly used by animals and humans. Eucalyptus contains eucalyptus oil, a class of natural compounds extracted from eucalyptus leaves, which can be used in cosmetics. For example, Head & Shoulders still contains eucalyptus essence. Many medicinal raw materials contain eucalyptus oil components, and it can also be used as medicinal raw materials for oral use, rhinitis use, expectorant use, cooling oil, throat lozenges, wind-dispelling ointment, and more. Eucalyptus oil contains eucalyptol, which is mainly used in toothpaste, mouthwash, food, and medicine.

Rumors about the harm of eucalyptus

1. Fertilizer-pumping machine: Eucalyptus has an extremely large demand for soil fertilizer and nutrients. Wherever eucalyptus is planted, land fertility declines or even becomes exhausted. Original vegetation is severely damaged because it cannot obtain enough fertilizer and nutrients, causing land degradation, worsening soil and water conservation, and barren land. By that time, introducing other plants simply will not allow them to survive. The proportion of severe soil erosion increases year by year, and landslides and flood disasters increase.

2. Tyrant tree: Eucalyptus has an extremely strong suppressive effect on local native, indigenous, and naturally occurring species. Where it grows, other species cannot grow, and they will gradually retreat, ultimately causing eucalyptus forests to have bare ground, with no grass, shrubs, small trees, or various Chinese medicinal herbs on the ground cover, and other species cannot coexist with it.

3. Toxic tree: When planting eucalyptus, certain chemical products with strong toxicity and long-lasting toxic effects are applied. Once this product is applied to the land, it will be very difficult to remove completely, will greatly pollute water quality, and will cause immeasurable harm after being drunk by humans and livestock. In addition, the odor emitted by eucalyptus has irritating and toxic effects on the human body, threatening the health of local people.

Questions about the harm of eucalyptus

1. Question one: Eucalyptus is a “water pump” and will absorb all the water and cause drought. This is one of the most common questions about eucalyptus. Because of its very large transpiration, eucalyptus causes a clear decline in groundwater, like a “water pump,” causing land drought and depletion of water sources. In response, scientific research results have proven that eucalyptus has a fairly high water use efficiency compared with other coniferous trees, and the role of eucalyptus forests in water conservation, soil and water conservation, and climate regulation is not inferior to that of other tree species. A large number of field observation experiments also show that eucalyptus does not directly cause drought. Data obtained by scientist Bailly and others from 8 years of observation also show that most of the water in broad-leaved eucalyptus forests infiltrates into the soil, and instead can effectively conserve soil and water.

2. Question two: Eucalyptus is a “fertilizer absorber” and will cause “soil fertility exhaustion.” Many people who have visited eucalyptus forests or personally planted eucalyptus say that eucalyptus has an extremely large demand for soil fertilizer and nutrients, and that wherever eucalyptus is planted, fertility declines or even becomes exhausted, and other plants introduced on soil where eucalyptus has been planted simply cannot survive. In China, scientist Bai Jiayu, who has studied eucalyptus for many years, measured the nutrient uptake of eucalyptus and found that eucalyptus has a stronger ability to use nutrients efficiently than other tropical tree species. Abroad, scientist Liani also observed eucalyptus forest soil and found that after the rapid growth period, eucalyptus returns the nutrient elements absorbed during that period to the soil.

3. Question three: Eucalyptus is a “tyrant tree” and will inhibit the growth of other species. Some people point out that eucalyptus has an extremely strong suppressive effect on local native, indigenous, and naturally occurring species, and other species cannot coexist with it. Indeed, based on scientific common sense, invasive species may indeed harm local ecological environments. But scientific research has also found that almost all harmful invasive plants are herbaceous plants, while eucalyptus, as a tree, has not yet truly been proven to be ecologically harmful. In addition, the phenomenon that some tree species are sensitive to the sap or decaying leaves of another group of tree species is also a normal phenomenon in nature. A survey was once conducted on this in the Leizhou Peninsula of Guangdong, and the research results also showed that local forest plant diversity did not decrease because of eucalyptus planting.