Toxic Essential Oils

There are several toxic essential oils and we don’t use it in Aromatherapy. Although essential oils can be used for great benefit of your body. But you should keep in mind that these oil can be toxic too to our body. Never assume that, because these oil are made /extracted from flower/plant and they are no danger. Many flower or plant can become deadly too.

Secondly, if you use these essential oils improperly , they can be toxic too. So please always read the safety guide before you using these essential oils. . These oils are concentrated and must always be diluted or they can have side effects. Some of them can cause severe skin irritation.

Sweet Birch oil is potentially hazardous. It has the same active ingredient as aspirin, methyl salicyalte, and if you are treating yourself with aspirin and then use this essential oil you could overdose.

Pennyroyal, Tansy and parsley are said to be abortifacients. Their abortifacient activity is more likely to be due to poisoning or irritation of the peristalsis reflex. This makes them unsuitable or even dangerous for use in aromatherapy. These oils have ability to harm the liver and cause death.

There are also some that should not be used on the body in massage therapy nor ever ingested because of their high oral and dermal toxicity.

The following information is adapted from The Essential Oil Safety Data Manual by Robert Tisserand.

Potentially Toxic Oils

Some of the oils in the following list have limited use externally; others are used for perfumery. We have included Latin names to avoid any confusion.

• Almond, bitter (Prunus amygdalus var. amara)
• Inula (Inula graveolens)
• Khella (Ammi visnaga)
• Mugwort (Artemesia vulgaris)
• Pennyroyal (Mentha pelugium)
• Sassafras (Sassafras albidum)
• Thuja (Thuja occidentalis)
• Wintergreen (Gaultheria procumbens)

Very Toxic Essential Oils

We recommend not using the following oils at all.

• Ajowan (Ptychotis ajowan, Carum ajowan)
• Arnica (Arnica montana)
• Boldo (Peumus boldus)
• Buchu (Barosma betulina)
• Calamus (Acorus calamus)
• Cascarilla (Croton eluteria)
• Chervil (Anthriscus cerefolium)
• Camphor, brown and yellow (Cinnamomun camphora)
• Deer Tongue (Carphephorus odoratissimus)
• Horseradish (Cochlearia armoracia, Armoracia rusticana)
• Jaborandi (Pilocarpus jaborandi)
• Mustard (Brassica nigra)
• Narcissus (Narcissus poeticus)
• Nutmeg (Myristica fragrans)
• Parsley (Petroselinum sativum, Carum sativum)
• Rue (Ruta graveolens)
• Santolina (Santolina chamaecyparissus)
• Spanish broom (Spartium junceum)
• Tansy (Tanacetum vulgare)
• Tonka (Dipteryx odorata)
• Turmeric (Curcuma longa)
• Wormseed (Chenopodium ambrosioides, C. anthelminticum)
• Wormwood (Artemisia absinthium)

Always remember that some essential oils can be mildly to severally toxic if used on their own. Seek expert advice before using essential oils!

More on Reference about Toxic Essential oils.

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