These photographs of people enjoying an 'oil spa' in Azerbaijan are reminiscent of a scene from the Bond film ‘Quantum of Solace’. However, these people have not found themselves in an oil spill instead they are voluntarily enjoying an oil spa at the Naftalan Therapeutic Complex in central Azerbaijan.
These people are bathing here as they believe that 'Naftalan' has therapeutic powers.
The origin of the word, ‘Naftalan’, can be traced to the Greek word, ‘naphtha’ pertaining to oil and the Azerbaijani suffix, ‘-alan’ which comes from the verb ‘to take’. Naftalan is used as an oil treatment.
While Naftalan crude oil is too heavy for normal export uses (unlike Azerbaijan's plentiful Caspian Sea oil), it contains about 50 percent naphthalene, a hydrocarbon that is the active ingredient in coal tar soaps, which are used to treat psoriasis. As such, it is only used for medicinal purposes. People using the oil generally sit in a bath and are covered in oil up to their necks. There are numerous petroleum spas in the city of Naftalan itself.
The naphthalene in the oil is claimed to give it therapeutic properties, however Western experts say it, and bathing in crude oil in general, might actually be carcinogenic.
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