Fullerene C60 in olive oil

What C60 is

C60, also called buckminsterfullerene, is a molecule of 60 carbon atoms in the shape of a football. It was discovered in 1985 and is produced synthetically. In longevity circles it is offered dissolved in olive oil because the famous rat study used this form.

What is rated is the state of knowledge. It rests entirely on animal experiments and laboratory work, and even there the central finding has not been repeated.

How it is supposed to work

In the test tube, C60 scavenges free radicals very effectively and is therefore considered a strong antioxidant. Dissolved in olive oil, it is absorbed through the gut in rats and excreted again within a few tens of hours. The authors of the rat study attributed the longer lifespan mainly to less age-related oxidative stress.

This chain of action is not established. In mice the extension of lifespan could not be repeated, and under light C60 oil forms breakdown products that are themselves harmful.

What the studies show

Baati 2012: the rat study on which everything rests

Baati and colleagues repeatedly gave rats C60 in olive oil by mouth. They found no chronic toxicity and an almost doubled lifespan compared with the control groups. In a model with carbon tetrachloride, C60 oil dampened liver damage, from which the authors concluded that it protects against oxidative stress. Dissolved C60 was absorbed through the gut and excreted within a few tens of hours.

Grohn 2021: replication in mice without lifespan extension

Grohn and colleagues tested the hypothesis in two mouse strains. CB6F1 mice that received C60 oil into the abdominal cavity lived 144 weeks on average, those with plain olive oil 145 weeks (p = 0.87). C57BL/6 mice that received C60 in virgin olive oil by mouth, starting at a young or older age, lived neither longer nor healthier than untreated animals; mean lifespan was 127 weeks without treatment and 128 to 130 weeks with C60 oil. In addition, under light of the intensity of normal room lighting, C60 oil formed substances that led to severe illness and deaths in mice within 2 weeks.

Shytikov 2021: the effect depended on the olive oil

In CBA/Ca mice that received C60 in olive oil for 7 months from an age of 10 to 12 months, the animals lived longer than those with plain olive oil, but not longer than animals that received only water. The authors explain the difference by an adverse effect of olive oil in this mouse strain, which C60 offset.

SCCS 2023: safety in cosmetics not confirmed

The EU Scientific Committee on Consumer Safety examined fullerenes as a cosmetic ingredient. It could not confirm their safety because of uncertainties and data gaps and could not rule out a genotoxic potential of C60 and C70; it classified hydrated hydroxylated fullerenes as genotoxic and not safe for cosmetics. The assessment concerns application to the skin, not swallowing, but it shows how patchy the data are.

Where the data stop

• Any statement about humans. There is no study in humans, neither on efficacy nor on tolerability, and no published case series either.
• The lifespan extension. It rests on one small rat study. Two independent mouse studies found no advantage over untreated animals.
• Long-term safety. Available toxicity tests in rodents run over days to weeks. For cosmetics, the EU committee could not confirm safety.
• Quality in the market. In one analysis, commercial products differed markedly from freshly prepared C60 oil, and light alters the product.

Status, approval and legal

C60 is approved in the EU neither as a food nor as a medicine. The European Commission’s Novel Food Catalogue contains no entry on fullerenes (queried on October 5, 2026), and an authorization as a novel food under Regulation (EU) 2015/2283 was not found in our research. Since C60 is produced synthetically and was not consumed in the EU before May 15, 1997, such an authorization would be needed for it to be sold as a food.

An application to use C60 as a food additive in salmon and fish oil products was examined in 2010 by the Norwegian Scientific Committee for Food Safety. Result: the application did not meet the requirements for an assessment by the European Commission and EFSA, and most of the key safety data were missing.

Safety

There are no safety data in humans. In rodents, short studies showed no signs of poisoning and no genetic damage; both papers come from the circle of the group that published the 2012 rat study.

The best-documented risk concerns the product itself: under light of the intensity of normal room lighting, C60 oil forms toxic substances that caused severe illness and deaths in mice within 2 weeks. Commercial products also differed markedly in purity and content. The EU Scientific Committee on Consumer Safety could not rule out a genotoxic potential of C60.

Sources

• Baati T et al., Biomaterials 2012 – prolongation of the lifespan of rats by repeated oral administration of C60
• Grohn KJ et al., GeroScience 2021 – C60 in olive oil: light-dependent toxicity, no lifespan extension in mice
• Shytikov D et al., Rejuvenation Res 2021 – long-term administration of C60 in CBA/Ca mice, comparison with olive oil and water
• Burres C et al., EXCLI J 2024 – short-term toxicity study of dissolved C60 in rats according to OECD guidelines
• Moussa F, Nanomaterials 2025 – micronucleus test of C60/C70 in olive oil in mice
• SCCS (EU Scientific Committee on Consumer Safety), opinion SCCS/1649/23 of October 26, 2023 – fullerenes and hydroxylated fullerenes in cosmetics
• VKM (Norwegian Scientific Committee for Food Safety), report 2010:41 – application to use fullerene C60 as a food additive
• European Commission, Novel Food Catalogue (search, no entry on fullerenes, queried October 5, 2026)
• Regulation (EU) 2015/2283 on novel foods