Naftalan oil

[13] Nevertheless, in Europe the results from the Naphthalan Health Resort in Azerbaijan were largely rejected because the idea of the application of native oil to human subjects was not acceptable.

[14] In the 1970s, the School of Medicine, University of Zagreb conducted its own research to compare the kinds of oil found near Baku and near Križ, Croatia.

After two years, in 1978, they concluded that the oil they analyzed was not carcinogenic, after testing at INA labs and at the Ruđer Bošković Institute, and conducting a trial with 770 patients.

[13] Their use of naphtalan oil is restricted to a refined distillate, devoid of tar, aromatic content and other undesired substances, in an effort to minimize the rate of contraindications and side effects.

[17][18] Purified oil used in some treatments contains mainly polycyclic hydrocarbons, with the most pure having a transparent white to lemon-yellow color and napthenic content up to 98.5 percent.

[19][20] Early studies of the oil's chemistry and therapeutic properties involved partially purified material, a naptha used as an ointment which was compared favourably to Vaseline.

[21] Spas in Naftalan, Azerbaijan use the crude oil for whole-body bathing,[3][7] a procedure which has been described by the British documentary photographer Chloe Dewe Mathews.