Essential Oils. Safety rules.

Top 12 Safety Rules

Rules #1 - never consume essential oils.  Even if you read a book by an aromatherapist from a country that uses essential oils internally they should never be consumed. The practice of consuming essential oils is dangerous and was only ever designed to be done under the care of an aromatherapist trained in that form of therapy.  In addition studies have shown that topical aromatherapy is more effective than internal aromatherapy methods. 

Rule #2 - always dilute your essential oils before applying them to the skin.  There are a very small handful of exceptions to this rule including lavender and tea tree which can be applied “neat” to the skin. 

Keep in mind that essential oils are incredibly potent and need to be dispersed into a carrier before applying them to the skin.  You wouldn’t wrap your body in 30 lbs of plant material so don’t apply that much or more directly onto your skin.  Typically essential oils are diluted into products at 1 to 3% - sometimes less and sometimes more but that is the general rule of thumb.  Some essential oils have an intense aroma and price tag combined that allow for their use as low as .1% for example; jasmine, German chamomile and neroli. 

In different aromatherapy books you sometimes will find recommendations of essential oils over 3% in massage oils but it simply isn’t necessary.  Less is more in the world of essential oils.  No need to overdose and it is always better to be safe than sorry.

Raindrop therapy is a good example of how undiluted and too high of concentrations of essential oils can be dangerous.  This method of applying essential oils is the practice of dripping pure undiluted essential oils directly onto the skin which has many adverse effects. People have had burns, skin irritation and intense detoxification effects that could have been avoided if this dangerous practice was no longer taught.  The human body does not need to detoxify at such a rapid rate and the skin should not come in direct contact with undiluted essential oils. 

Rule #3 - keep all essential oils out of the reach of children.  Children are notorious for putting everything in their mouths.  And again essential oils were never meant to be consumed. 

In addition essential oils should be used in half the dosage rate for children than an adult for topical application.  They are not miniature adults and their bodies were not designed to process the same ratio of essential oils on their skin.  I have safely used aromatherapy on all three of my children since 1998. In fact I was introduced to aromatherapy when my son had a stubborn case of ringworm that wouldn’t go away.  It was tea tree essential oil that cured it and sparked my interest in the field. 

You should always use caution when using essential oils on children.  I heard of a case of a woman who read that tangerine essential oil would help with hyperactivity in children.  She decided to put undiluted tangerine essential oil directly on the palm of her child’s hand. Thankfully, tangerine is a safe essential oil and the child suffered no ill effect.  But she had decided to try it on a day that the child had a big test to take at school and the high concentration of tangerine oil knocked the child out for the entire day and he slept through his test, lunch, dinner…and into the next morning.

Rule #4 - stay with the tried and true essential oils.  Avoid essential oils that are not the common essential oils used historically in aromatherapy.  Unless you understand the chemistry of essential oils it is best to stick with the commonly used essential oils.

A trained aromatherapist can read the chemical composition of an essential oil profile and make an educated decision about the safety of an essential oil.  But without that training you would not know whether you should avoid or use essential oils based on their chemical composition of aldehydes, esthers, ketones, phenols and monoterpene hydrocarbons.

Rule #5 - know which essential oils to avoid or use with caution.  You should even avoid them if you like the way they smell or the properties that you read about them.  Remember that you are producing cosmetics or soap and should use great caution.

Essential oils to be avoided altogether include:  unrectified bitter almond, basil ct methyl chavicol, birch, boldo leaf, blue cypress,  bitter fennel, bog myrtle, buchu, unrectified cade, calamint, calamus, (brown, blue or yellow) camphor, cassia, cinnamon bark, costus, davana, dog basil, elecampane, fig leaf, horseradish, jaborandi, lantana, melaleuca bracteata, mustard, mugwort, parsley seed, pennyroyal, rue, dalmatian sage, santolina, sassafras, savin, tansy, tarragon, tea absolute, thuja, tonka bean, turmeric, verbena, wintergreen, wormseed, wormwood. 

Essential oils that should be used with caution or at very low dosages include: yarrow, dill, tarragon, caraway, white camphor, hyssop, spearmint, rosemary ct verbenone, tagette. 

Essential oils that should be heavily diluted due to potential skin irritation include: cassia, cinnamon bark, cinnamon leaf, cumin, lemongrass, oregano, clove stem, clove bud, clove leaf, wild thyme and red thyme. 

Some essential oils render the skin hypersensitive to the sun and are known as photosensitizing which include: angelica rood and seed, caraway, cassia, cinnamon bark, lime, bitter orange, bergamot, lemon, cumin, lovage, lemon verbena, Melissa, rue and ginger. 

In general this rule is regarding essential oil usage of 5% or above which is another reason to keep your essential oil percentage below 3%.

Contact sensitization is a hot topic regarding essential oils and cosmetics in general.  Some essential oils are more apt to cause contact sensitization than others including: ylang ylang, cassia, cinnamon bark, costus root, bergamot, fig leaf, elecampane, verbena, aniseed, clove stem and bud. 

Rules #6 - always wear protective gear while handling essential oils.  Remember that essential oils are very concentrated and should not be applied directly to the skin.  If you wear gloves while handling essential oils you lessen the chance of spilling undiluted essential oils directly onto your hands.  Even if it doesn’t hurt at the moment it could hurt later.  A good example is that peppermint essential oil spilled directly onto your hands might not hurt at the moment but later when you touch you eye it will burn like crazy. 

Rule #7 - have a well ventilated area to work in.  Remember that essential oils can enter the body through inhalation.  Some essential oils can cause euphoria, sleepiness or can be extremely stimulating.  In a closed space with poor circulation the essential oils can become overwhelming.

Rule #8 - use extra caution when using essential oils on animals, kids and the elderly.  The dosages should be at least half that of what you would use for a healthy adult.  And essential oils are toxic to cats so never ever use essential oils on them. 

Rule #9 - use common sense.  Essential oils are safe when used in moderation.  Many substances on earth are toxic when used in the extreme.  Too much water can lead to water poisoning; Carrots, tomatoes, saffron and mustard will all cause illness when consumed in excess. 

Rule #10 of essential oils safety for your business - do not claim healing properties of essential oils.  That would transform your cosmetic into a drug.  The rules and regulations are completely different and aromatherapy does not qualify on any monograph for approved over the counter drugs. 

Rule #11 – always use the botanical name for essential oils when ordering.  I used common names for this presentation; however, I never make an aromatherapy decision without reviewing the botanical name. The botanical name tells the genus and species of the plant and includes information about the variety, cultivar, chemotype and hybrid when needed.  Often these details are the difference between an essential oil being safe for use or not. 

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