The phrase, “most toxic essential oils,” sounds like a scare tactic, right? Many of us use essential oils as natural remedies. (I personally use them for my headaches, for Baby J’s shampoo, and—when I use up my Windex—for green cleaning solutions.) We also usually have at least one friend who swears by them for fixing every evil known to man. Want to lose weight? Try this oil! Gain weight? The same oil works; just drink less water with it! Want to sleep better? Get rid of stomachaches? Lower your stress? All of these problems have an essential oil fix. Some companies or users make more extreme claims, such as that a particular essential oil can cure cancer.
Can Essential Oils Be Like Poisons?
A doctor recently commented to us that there have been a number of people coming into his clinic with sometimes-severe allergic reactions to the various essential oils with which they have been experimenting. His statement made me curious about the potential dangers of essential oils, and I began to investigate. I found that while the majority of the oils are harmless for most people (and can even be helpful) if used in very small amounts and diluted, some of them should be handled as carefully as poisons. Following is a list of ten of the most potentially dangerous essential oils on the market. Lock them up in your cabinet, too high for your little ones to reach!
10 of the Most Toxic Essential Oils
10) Pennyroyal oil
Touted as an antiseptic, pennyroyal has been used for thousands of years for multiple reasons. It can be lethal when swallowed. Women have used it to induce abortion, risking death for themselves. A few drops of pennyroyal oil probably would not kill you, but they could cause hallucinations and seizures. Larger doses, if they do not kill you, can cause major kidney and liver damage.
9) Wintergreen oil
People use wintergreen oil for everything from bad gas to aching joints. Small amounts found in medicines or foods are perfectly safe. Swallowing the oil by itself, though, can lead to intense nausea, diarrhea, headaches (one of the problems wintergreen is supposed to be able to fix), and mental confusion. Like aspirin, wintergreen oil can cause children to become very ill shortly after overdosing.
8) Sage oil
Sniffing the leaves on the sage plant in your back yard, or stuffing a few in your Thanksgiving turkey, will not cause any problems. But mixing the oil with your drinking water is a bad idea. Children who have ingested more than a few drops have had seizures, according to Poison Control. Unfortunately, it is marketed as an internal supplement for “mental balance” when mixed with a carrier agent. Apparently, you need to use a lot of that carrier agent!
7) Cinnamon Oil
For many of us, the scent of cinnamon is the scent of home and cozy kitchens. Without cinnamon, apple or pumpkin pie just would not be the same. But keep your pure cinnamon oil away from the kids. In one case, a 7-year-old boy collapsed after drinking 2 ounces of the oil and continued having severe gastrointestinal issues for over five hours after the incident. Cinnamon oil does not compare to pennyroyal in levels of toxicity, but we do have to treat it with care.
6) Eucalyptus oil
Most of us are familiar with the taste of eucalyptus. It is my least favorite element of the common cough drop, but I am still alive after sucking on probably hundreds of cough drops in my lifetime. Undiluted eucalyptus oil, on the other hand, is a different animal. Vomiting and diarrhea are possible side effects, among others. Downing 3.5 milliliters of the stuff can kill you.
5) Tea tree oil
Tea tree oil is a very commonly used remedy for multiple woes, including acne (yes, I tried it as a teen!) or even head lice. Traditionally in Australia, where the tree grows, the oil has been used to treat burns, insect bites, and numerous other skin conditions including eczema. It has also been a temporary fix for body odor, and it probably works for that use—the strong smell of the tea tree oil can initially be quite overpowering.
While tea tree oil can be very useful, it is also poisonous. When swallowed, it can cause numerous problems, including a coma (this was recorded to have happened to at least one child, but fortunately the child recovered).
4) Juniper oil
Juniper oil is supposed to help relieve hemorrhoids when used in your bathwater, regulate women’s menstruation when swallowed, and get rid of dandruff when used on your scalp. When used over a long period of time or in large amounts, though, the oil may cause seizures and kidney malfunction.
3) Nutmeg oil
Nutmeg is a familiar label in our spice cabinets, adding that special touch to cookies, cakes, and pies. Used topically in its oil form, it is supposed to help reduce inflammation and joint pain. Lovers of nutmeg oil claim benefits such as lower stress, better dreams at night, less gas, and better breath. (In other words, a kinder, better-smelling world!)
Even the spice form of nutmeg, however, can be dangerous. Vomiting, drowsiness, and even a coma are possible when too much is ingested.
2) Cedar leaf (thuja) oil
Handle the ‘control freaks’ in your home by diffusing cedar leaf oil, claims one proponent of the cedar leaf oil. Fix Hepatitis B and HIV by massaging a couple drops into your feet each night! Get rid of tumors!
Or instead, drink some of the oil and go into a coma, experience seizures or incredible pain in your abdomen, or burn your esophagus. Because the oil smells like a sweet drink, children may want to have a sip or two. If this happens to someone in your family, you will have to take him/her to the emergency room immediately.
1) Wormwood oil
Just the name of this substance makes me feel queasy. Wormwood, though, like pennyroyal, has been taken as medicine for generations. Even Hippocrates, the Greek father of Western medicine (think the Hippocratic oath), used it. Now, users still claim that wormwood oil helps the digestive system.
Wormwood oil that contains a high concentration of thujone is potentially fatal. If you don’t die after consuming it, you can expect to have seizures, kidney failure or stomach cramps, paralysis, nightmares, vomiting, muscle breakdown, or other distasteful symptoms.
In Conclusion:
Although essential oils can be soothing scents in your home, or can help with minor woes (for example, I use a few drops of peppermint on my forehead when I have a headache), they are powerful and should be used with care. These 10 most toxic essential oils should definitely be kept away from children!
For more information and tips for preventing accidental misuse of essential oils, visit the National Capital Poison Center’s website: poison.org. Search for “essential oils.”
AMEN! Finally!
I friend of mine lost her 2-year-old son to wintergreen oil. Long ago, it could be bought in pint bottles. No one thought of using caution with it, although it was marketed as a cleaner, such as orange oil is today. I mean, really, it also occurred in chewing gum, right? He swallowed some, and even the Dr. thought nothing of it and told her to feed him and not to worry. Well, he died.
She began a campaign (probably fifty years ago or more) to label all poisons with the skull and crossbones. That’s when it all began in this country, that we even used that label.
Only now we don’t so much. 🙁
That is such a scary story!
This article makes me said because it makes me realize how many people use EOs with absolutely no idea what they are doing.
Dilute always, brand matters as 90% of the oils out there contain only 5% real oil despite the 100% pure label (the rest is synthetics and fragrance”), and a little is a lot! Meaning in a 15 ml bottle, which is 275 drops, of Lemon Essential Oil by [Brand Name] there are 75 lemons. Consuming 2 ounces would be the entire bottle! Would you sit down and let your toddler eat 75 full lemons??? NO
Common sense is required as well as more education. Wintergreen is also a non consumable oil so the fact that people are ingesting it blows my mind.
I guess my point is, if you are going to start using essential oils, which honestly everyone should, find someone that knows what they are doing to help educate you and again, use common sense.
You wouldn’t give your child 20 Advil so why would you give them 20 drops of anything…
“Fix Hepatitis B and HIV by massaging a couple drops into your feet each night! Get rid of tumors!” OK Wow so the thousands of dollars on anti-retrovirals that my HIV+ friends have spent could have all been avoided had they just used used cedar oil? My grandpa didn’t have to die of cancer, and could have avoided all that painful chemo and radiation if only he’d just rubbed some cedar oil on it.
My grandpa died of cancer too, but i dont say it that way. I say he died from chemotherapy, because that is what killed him. Chemo is a scam, it’s a hard pill to swallow but its still used because its profitable, not because it works. Of the people i know with cancer, only the ones who tried a natural approach are still alive and not so weak they can barely do anything