Amber
Succinum; Greek ēlektron
- Known today as
- Fossil tree resin, chiefly from the Baltic coast.
- Kind
- Resin & Wood, in 1 older authority
- Constituents
- succinic acid
- Earliest authority here
- Pliny (AD 23/24–79)
Caution. Amber necklaces are unsafe for infants.
Amber: what was it used for?
Its oil and salt against the falling sickness and the womb; worn as beads against sore throats and teething.
Amber: what does modern science say?
Its oil has no proven effect; amber teething necklaces are a choking and strangling hazard, and the FDA warned against them in 2018.
Pharmacognosy & Toxicology
- Constituents
- succinic acid ChEMBL3–8 per cent of Baltic amber
- Mechanism
- None: the succinic acid in amber is not released by the warmth of a child’s neck, and if it were, succinate is an ordinary metabolite of every cell.
- Toxic dose
- The amber teething necklaces sold to parents have strangled infants; the FDA warned in 2018.
- Standing
- No medical use; sold as a teething remedy without evidence.
- U.S. Food and Drug Administration (2018). “FDA warns about safety risks of teething necklaces, bracelets, and other jewelry.” Standard reference work
Constituent names open the compound’s record at PubChem, and “ChEMBL” beside a name opens its record at ChEMBL, the European Bioinformatics Institute’s database of bioactive molecules. Where a mechanism line was checked against ChEMBL (ChEMBL 37, read 1 October 2026), the check is shown with the measured value and its source paper, or says plainly that nothing has been measured. Doses are as the references give them, for description only; this is not medical advice. Each source carries the result of its check against Crossref, PubMed, or the authority’s page: see Verification.
Amber: what lore surrounds it?
Rubbed, it draws straws to itself; the Greek word for it, ēlektron, gave us “electricity.”
Amber: what did the older authorities say?
- Pliny
- Devotes pages to amber, its origin in pine sap, and the absurd fables told of it.
Sources
- Pliny, Natural History XXXVII. Primary text
Verification
- Checked
- October 1, 2026
- Passes
- Every sentence read against its sources, in the pass over the remaining 343 entries
- The Standing line checked against the authority it names (EMA, WHO, FDA, CITES, Commission E)
- Every dated or regulatory claim checked by category across the database
- Sources
- 2 cited: 1 primary text, 1 standard reference work.
- Corrections
- None were needed.
What was checked, how, and what was found is set out on the Verification page. A checked source is one whose record was found; it does not make the entry medical advice.
Cite This Entry
Version 1 · first published September 25, 2026
- Chicago
“Amber.” In Materia Medica, edited by B. C. P. Statema. Version 1. The Thinking Press, 2026–. Last modified September 25, 2026. https://thethinkingpress.org/materia-medica/amber.
- MLA
“Amber.” Materia Medica, edited by B. C. P. Statema, version 1, The Thinking Press, 25 Sept. 2026, thethinkingpress.org/materia-medica/amber. Accessed 8 Oct. 2026.
- APA
Amber. (2026, September 25). In B. C. P. Statema (Ed.), Materia medica (Version 1). The Thinking Press. Retrieved October 8, 2026, from https://thethinkingpress.org/materia-medica/amber
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See Also
Also in Pliny the Elder
Aniseed in Pliny the Elder · Alum in Pliny the Elder · Armenian stone, pills of in Pliny the Elder · Aloe in Pliny the Elder · everything Pliny the Elder names →
Drawing on the same sources: Pliny
Nearby in the alphabet
Ambergris (A waxy substance formed in the gut of the sperm whale) · The amulet herbs (See each above) · Angel’s wings (fan-shaped fungus that rots conifer wood) · Alkanet (Alkanna tinctoria (syn) · Agrimony (Agrimonia eupatoria)
Historical description, not medical advice.