Essential Oil Safety: Everything You Need to Know for Safe and Effective Use

Just because you have been told something is safe by an essential oil company or a consultant of that company, doesn’t mean it’s safe. 

As a Certified Holistic Aromatherapist, every day on social media, someone contacts me regarding something dangerous they have either done or are thinking of doing with essential oils. Very often this will have to do with ingesting essential oils (spoiler alert:don’t do it); other times it has to do with a negative skin reaction, and rarely, someone will tell me about a negative respiratory response to essential oils. 

Essential oils are incredibly powerful substances. Because of this, they can have potent interactions with our bodies, for good or for ill. And because I believe it is so vital for folks to take back their power as it pertains to their health and well-being, I feel it is important to share how to safely use this component of “grass roots health care.” 

The first thing you really need to know about safe essential oil use for beginners & advanced practitioners alike. 

Where to find essential oils safety information

As a Certified Holistic Aromatherapist, I value both science and experience. And I appreciate information that comes from a more neutral source. That is why I start with the safety guidelines of the two main governing bodies of aromatherapists in the United States, The National Association of Holistic Aromatherapy and the Alliance of International Aromatherapists. These two organizations’ safety standards are what all professional aromatherapists must adhere to as members of these organizations. The safety statements are constructed by these organizations based on peer-reviewed science and are also informed by the lived experiences of the aromatherapists in the organization. 

I also want to provide you with my own takes on this topic, so what follows are essential oil safety guidelines for aromatherapy.

General safety with essential oils

This category includes things that may seem obvious. Keep essential oils out of the reach of kids and pets. Don’t put essential oils in your eyes. Oils need to be stored in a cool, dark location. Essential oil dosage is pertinent, and oils need to be diluted for use. This would also include cautions about using the same essential oil over and over for a long period of time. 

Respiratory irritation with essential oils

Some essential oils are mucous membrane irritants—meaning if you inhale them or have them touch your mouth or genitals, you could experience very unpleasant feelings. Avoid diffusing these oils unless they are in a blend for respiratory issues. Do not diffuse oregano essential oil at all. Do not put bay, clove, cinnamon bark, lemongrass, or thyme ct thymol in the bath, and also be careful with peppermint. 

Essential oils to take care with in this category are: bay, caraway, cinnamon bark or leaf, clove bud or leaf, lemongrass, oregano, peppermint (safe in the diffuser in smaller amounts), and thyme ct. thymol. 

When you diffuse essential oils, cater the amount of essential oils to the size of the room. I use up to 10 drops for medium-large spaces and 5 or less for small rooms like bedrooms. Don’t diffuse essential oils around infants; instead, opt for using hydrosols in your diffuser. When you diffuse, aim for 20-30 minutes maximum at a time, but know you can repeat this up to four times a day if desired. Make sure you have good ventilation, and if you have pets, that they can get away from the scent if desired. 

Don’t apply eucalyptus or peppermint to an infant, even diluted, as it can cause glottal stricture, meaning the baby may not be able to breathe. If you are going to use eucalyptus with older kids, opt for the Eucalyptus radiata species. 

How to dilute essential oils for skin safety

Essential oils are highly concentrated aromatic chemicals. The skin can be either supported or harmed by them. Essential oils become more readily used by the body when diluted into a carrier oil. Avoiding essential oil skin irritation is key to using essential oils safely.

Some essential oils, especially citrus essential oils, can cause skin reactions when applied and then exposed to UV rays, either from the sun or the tanning bed. This can lead to changes in skin color and even serious burns. This is called photosensitization. Oils that can be photosensitizing are: angelica root, bergamot, cumin, grapefruit (distilled or expressed), lemon (expressed), lime (expressed), bitter orange (expressed), and rue. If you use these essential oils on your skin, always dilute, and wait 24 hours before going into the sun or tanning bed. 

Some essential oils are naturally irritating to the skin because of different chemical components, such as phenols, that they contain. 

According to NAHA:

“General safety guidelines include: avoid application of known dermal irritant essential oils on any inflammatory or allergic skin condition; avoid undiluted application; avoid application on open or damaged skin; and dilute known dermal irritants with appropriate vegetable oil or other carrier. If you suspect a client has sensitive skin, perform a skin patch test.”

Dermal irritants include: bay, cinnamon bark and leaf, clove bud, citronella, cumin, lemongrass, lemon verbena, oregano, tagetes, and thyme ct thymol. I recently did a video series all about oregano essential oil, wherein I discussed some of the dangers of oregano, one such sensitizer. In fact, Tisserand and Young say not to use oregano on the skin at all in their book Essential Oil Safety.

In addition to dermal irritants, there is another category of essential oils known as dermal sensitizers. These are essential oils that are more commonly known to cause a type of allergic reaction in some individuals. This can be a confusing concept, so again from the NAHA site regarding sensitization:

“It occurs on first exposure to a substance, but on this occasion, the noticeable effect on the skin will be slight or absent. However, subsequent exposure to the same material, or to a similar one with which there is cross-sensitization, produces a severe inflammatory reaction brought about by cells of the immune system (T-lymphocytes). The reaction will be represented on the skin as blotchy or redness, which may be painful to some individuals.

The problem with dermal sensitization is that once it occurs with a specific essential oil the individual is most likely going to be sensitive to it for many years and perhaps for the remainder of his/her life. The best way to prevent sensitization is to avoid known dermal sensitizers and avoid applying the same essential oils every day for lengthy periods of time. Sensitization is, to an extent, unpredictable, as some individuals will be sensitive to a potential allergen and some will not.”

If you use essential oils, perform massage, or do your own blending for dermal application, you will want to avoid using: cassia, cinnamon bark, peru balsam, verbena absolute, tea absolute, turpentine oil, backhousia, and inula. Luckily, most of those will be essential oils you don’t have on hand. 

BUT, note also that when conifer (Pinaceae family) citrus essential oils are oxidized (meaning they are beyond their expiration) they can also cause skin sensitization, and this can be painful and severe at times. Because of this, it is good to go through all of your essential oils from time-to-time and toss out those whose shelf life has passed. 

Performing a skin patch test with essential oils

If you want to be certain of avoiding a sensitization response from an essential oil, one recommendation is to do what is called a patch test. To perform this, you will place 1-2 drops of already diluted skin-safe essential oil onto an inconspicuous area such as the inner forearm. Cover this with a bandaid, keep dry, and wait 24 hours. If no skin reaction occurs, you are likely ok to proceed using that essential oil (always diluted) on the skin. However, this doesn’t guarantee that you won’t develop an allergy to that oil in the future. 

Keep in mind that dilution rates for dermal application are going to be less for kids, the elderly, and the immuno-compromised. 

If you are allergic to a certain plant, you may also be allergic to that same plant’s essential oil. 

Also keep in mind there is a possibility with drug interactions and essential oils in certain individuals. For instance, birch and wintergreen need to be avoided in individuals who are on blood thinners. 

Don’t apply essential oils to broken or damaged skin unless under the supervision of someone trained in Aromatic Medicine. 

Why I do not recommend Raindrop Technique

Raindrop technique is a method of using substantial amounts of undiluted and even sensitizing essential oils on the skin along the path of the spine on the back. It is promoted by Young Living and claimed to have certain health benefits. 

I received Raindrop Technique once because I wanted to see what it was like. I was genuinely horrified the entire time when I realized that large amounts of thyme and oregano, among other oils,  were being applied to my skin “neat.” I did not experience any particular health benefits from this experience, and I smelled like a pizza for two weeks after that. 

The International Alliance of Aromatherapists has a statement regarding Raindrop Technique on their website I want to share with you to give you:

“Raindrop Technique (RDT), Aroma Touch and similar techniques do not meet the criteria for safe practice, as defined by the AIA Standards of Practice. There have been reported adverse effects regarding RDT, in particular. These techniques are typically practiced as a one-size-fits-all technique, and may not be suitable for people with compromised liver or kidney function, those with heart disease, those on blood thinning medication, those with allergies to aspirin, and other disorders.”

I do not recommend receiving or providing Raindrop Technique.

Knowing proper essential oil safety can help you feel more confident in partnering with these aromatic treasures.

Essential oil safety during pregnancy

One of the most frequent questions I receive in my inbox is if essential oils are safe to use during pregnancy. 

With BOTH essential oils and herbs, it is good to be aware that pregnancy is a time where the bodies involved are both more vulnerable to the effects thereof. This is quite a complex topic, and as it pertains to aromatherapy, there are differing opinions, even among the top world authorities on the subject. 

Because of this, it is good to use an abundance of caution, especially if you are an at-risk pregnancy, in your first trimester, or are intuitively feeling that essential oils shouldn’t be used by yourself at this time. 

Having said that, there are some essential oils that are safe to use, properly diluted, during pregnancy, and in fact, many of these can be of great comfort during a time of transition and great physical change. 

This topic includes more than I can cover in this blog, so I invite you to learn all about it in my Kitchen Medicine for Families course. 

Essential oils for kids, the elderly, & the immunocompromised

I get a lot of questions about safe essential oils for kids and pets. It's also important to understand essential oil safety for people with allergies.

I don't recommend using essential oils with animals at all unless you have specific training in this topic. There are several aromatherapists and good books out there on this topic, and it is not an area of my own specialty, so I will leave this topic for others.

For the groups mentioned above, dilution rates need to be significantly lower (.5%-2.5% depending on the situation) than for the average adult. If you can opt to use hydrosols rather than essential oils, even better and safer. 
I don’t recommend using essential oils with infants as it is too overwhelming to their systems. Try hydrosols, including in the diffuser. 
There is more to say about essential oils and kids that cannot be covered in a blog post as well as significant cautious about using essential oils with pets. Hit the button below for my Kitchen Medicine for Families class, a self-paced experience that will build your confidence in using both essential oils and herbs with your kids and family.

For those with allergies, know that if you have an allergy to a certain plant, you may also react to that plant's essential oil. Follow the safety recommendations above.

Internal use of essential oils

Saving the most controversial topic for last, let’s dip our toe into the contentious waters of internal use. 

First of all, internal use doesn’t just mean ingestion via the mouth, it can also mean suppositories and pessaries. Does that sound medical to you? If so, you would be right, and the proper individual to be advising these types of situations is a Clinical Aromatherapist who is also trained in Aromatic Medicine. 

Just today I had four different messages from people who have had burns in their esophagus and GI tract from internal ingestion of essential oils. One woman explained that she took what she thought was a properly-diluted essential oil from “someone she trusted,” only to end up with esophageal burns. 

Those who support the idea of essential oil ingestion like to point out the many studies supposedly supporting the idea of internal use of essential oils. What most of these individuals fail to realize is that those studies are done in vitro, meaning in a petri dish, rather than in vivo, in the human body. Until we have truly safe ways of ingesting essential oils, we need to use extreme caution in these regards. 

However, there are numerous caveats and nuances to this subject and much more to explain. 

Acknowledging this, both NAHA and AIA have official statements on internal ingestion, and I share them with you here. I will expand further on this topic in future blogs. 

NAHA’s statement on internal use: 

“Do not take essential oils internally without appropriate advanced aromatherapy education and understanding of the safety issues involved in doing so. Essential oils are commonly used internally throughout the world. Some individuals are doing so without the appropriate knowledge or understanding of safety concerns. NAHA does not support the indiscriminate or uneducated internal use of essential oils. If essential oils are used internally, we recommend doing so under the guidance of a knowledgeable health professional. To learn more, we recommend you receive education from a NAHA approved school. NAHA is dedicated to promoting education in this area so that internal use is better understood, and if done, is performed safely and effectively.”

And from AIA:

“AIA does not endorse internal therapeutic use (oral, vaginal or rectal) of essential oils unless recommended by a health care practitioner trained at an appropriate clinical level. An appropriate level of training must include chemistry, anatomy, diagnostics, physiology, formulation guidelines and safety issues regarding each specific internal route (oral, vaginal or rectal).”

So what do you do if you have an essential oil “supplement” that is labeled safe for internal use? Well, it’s ultimately up to you. My professional opinion is that this is the least effective and yet most dangerous way to utilize essential oils, and I do not advise ingestion. It is comforting to know there are often very worthy herbs that can be used for the same concerns that the ingestion is being promoted.  

Conclusion

Hopefully this helps to enlighten the reader on various concerns regarding essential oil safety. This information comes from neutral professional organizations who base their guidelines on peer-reviewed literature.

Knowing this information will help you to use essential oils better, making your “home pharmacy” so to speak, more valuable to you and yours. 

You may find it of value to become a member of these professional organizations. As an aromatherapy enthusiast who is a member, you will have access to valuable webinars and training that will help you further your knowledge. 

It can also help to take courses from Certified Aromatherapists. This can deepen your understanding and perspective as well as help you feel more comfortable using your oils. My courses can be found by hitting the button below. You may also opt to Apprentice with me 1:1 or in Root Disruption Group Apprenticeship to become proficient and confident in partnering with these valuable plant medicine resources. As a beginner, you may also want to build a foundation of knowledge in my Rewild + Untame subscription.