It was thought that excessive absinthe drinking had worse effects than those associated with overindulgence in other forms of alcohol, which was bound to be true for those consuming cheaper adulterated products, and led to the disease of 'absinthism'. One of the first vilifications of Absinthe was an 1864 experiment in which Dr. Magnan exposed a guinea pig to large doses of pure wormwood oil vapor and another to alcohol vapors. The guinea pig exposed to wormwood had seizures while the other did not. He would later blame the chemical thujone for these effects. Based on this he concluded absinthe was more dangerous than alcohol, disregarding the small amounts of wormwood oil likely to be consumed by drinkers.
Past reports estimated thujone levels in absinthe as high — up to 260 mg per kg of absinthe. More recent studies have shown that very little of the thujone present in wormwood actually makes it into a properly distilled absinthe, even one using historical recipes and methods. Most proper absinthes, both vintage and modern, are within the current EU limits. A recent French distiller has had to add pure essential oil of wormwood to make a 'high thujone' variant of his product. It can remain in higher amounts in oils produced by other methods than distillation, or when wormwood is macerated and not distilled, especially when the plant stems are used, where thujone content is the highest. Tests on mice show an LD50 of around 45 mg thujone per kg of body weight, much higher than what is contained in absinthe and the high amount of alcohol would kill a person many times over before the thujone became a danger. Although direct effects on humans are unknown, many have consumed thujone in higher amounts than present in absinthe through non-controversial sources like common sage and its oil, which can be up to 50% thujone. Long term effects of low wormwood consumption in humans are unknown as well. The deleterious effects of absinthe as well as its hallucinogenic properties are a persistent myth often repeated without support in modern books and scientific journals.
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