I have posted this opinion of the esteemed Juggy De Beerman in the past,but it might be of interest to some of the newer forum members.
sassafrass posted by Tom on February 28, 2006 at 14:54:54:
Yo Tom, I too have burned the stuff and it smells wonderful. That was before I did some checking in the early archives of the forum as well as a few other reliable sources. My unqualified suspicion is that it is NOT safe to use.
Here are my reasons why:
The following information is what I have gathered on my own. Sassafras contains safrole and the higher concentration levels of safrole are found in the bark and roots. Safrole is a known carcinogen that attacks the liver. Symptoms of safrole poisoning include lightheadedness, dizziness and an "over-sense" of well being. (No wonder Granny's Spring tonic made you feel good.) Safrole is used by underground chemists for the synthesis of MMDA, more commonly referred to as ecstacy.
The FDA removed safrole from the shelves in '76. The fil� you buy in the stores does not contain safrole. Safrole is considered a hazardous substance by both OSHA and NIOSH. Neither one of these Federal agencies has a permissible exposure limit. Their limits are based on parts per million weighted over an eight hour time frame. One part per million can be described as a pencil dot on a piece of loose-leaf paper. Here is a URL to a Material Safety Data Sheet for Safrole: www.state.nj.us/health/eoh/rtkweb/1642.pdf for more information.
Since these two agencies do not allow workers to be exposed to inhalation or ingestion dangers of safrole, I would not use sassafras for cooking. Yes the jury may still be out on the dangers of using this, but why risk it. You have two ways of possibly getting safrole in your system. Inhaling the smoke and ingesting safrole that may have contaminated the meat.
The Delaney Clause that binds the FDA to remove any product from the market, that contains a "proven" carcinogen, does not affect the findings of OSHA or NIOSH. NIOSH recommendations are not law, but OSHA's are. If OSHA allows no exposure to safrole, then I would stay away from it.
Will you get liver cancer from using sassafras wood once in a blue moon? Probably not. You could remove the bark and burn only the inner-wood. This should greatly reduce the total amount of safrole found in the wood, but I am guessing you would still have some some safrole left in that piece of wood. But why risk damaging your liver needlessly with sassafras smoke? I prefer to needlessy damage my liver one Budweiser at a time.......
Check out the link below and you will find that the Conservation Department also recommends not consuming sassafras tea.
Now to all those naysayers who still claim sassafras is safe to use, let me ask you this. If CCA lumber smelled like root beer when you burned it, would you use it in your smoker?
Lager,
Juggy
Original Post