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Should I worry?

-- By  Horolen Restrepo in  Miami, Florida on Thu, 2 Aug 2007 at 08:52.

My curiosity flurished after having seen (a bunch of times) "Dracula" w/ Gary Oldman and "From Hell" w/ Johnny Depp about this infamous alcoholic drink called ABSINTHE. So I went online, searched and finally purchased an Absinthe Brewing Kit. The kit comes with everything: Absinthium Herbs in a muslin bag (wormwood 1.2oz, hyssop, calamis, melissa, anise seed, fennel seed, star anise and coriander seed) another smaller bag (flavoring) comes w/ mint, melissa, wormwood, citron peel and liquorice root. A couple of micron filters are included since at home you don't have the proper equipment for distillation this method will filter it. Along with a bottle, sugar cubes, Absinthe Spoon and a glass. I'm on day 2 of the eight needed to fulfill the process with Everclear and Vodka. I may say that I'm a bit nervous about a true story I read on how a man's son who purchased online woodworm oil (unlike me) died of seizures! This company I purchased the kit from states that Thujone level is between 70-90mg/L but then again, they can say whatever they want to in order to sell their product but whose to know? I really want to enjoy my visit with the "Green Fairy" but I don't look forward to any health complications because of it. Any tips/ suggestions I can use to ease my worries? Is there a limit on drinks? Is the right amount of water added to the Absinthe 5 oz. water to 1 oz. Absinthe? Is more than three drinks ok or is that considered enough? I mean really, "How much thujone oil is considered safe?"
Desperately seeking advise from all you professionals out there. Much Regards!

 
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Thujone is found in a variety of common plants and herbs. In absinthe, thujone comes from wormwood (pictured), the wild-growing perennial that is especially rich in the substance. (Photo: H. Kress)

About thujone

The Wikipedia entry on thujone gives an overview of the substance's chemical composition and pharmacology. Also includes a brief discussion of thujone content in absinthe (modern and pre-ban).

Vivienne Baillie Gerritsen, writing for the Swiss Institute of Bioinformatics in 2005, isn't too thrilled by the Green Fairy's comeback. A scientific analysis of the effect of thujone, or a modern-day anti-absinthe rant? You decide.

Should you care to know that the substance's formal chemical name is "1-isopropyl-4-methylbicyclo[3.1.0] hexan-3-one", then the geeky 3Dchem's interactive 3-D model of the thujone molecule is a toy you'll like. Unfortunately, the associated article contains quite a few factual errors.