Safety

Question 1

Why are adverse reactions so much more common with essential oils?

Answer 1

Many of the oils used in aromatherapy have been used for thousands of years, but in the form of the whole plant. But because essential oils are 100% or more concentrated, the properties become much more pronounced.

Question 2

Irritation

Answer 2

• while some oils are classified as potential irritants they may not provoke a skin reaction in everyone
• it is recommended that someone with sensitive skin do a patch test prior to using the essential oil
• essential oils with high proportions of either aldehydes or phenols are often the culprits in provoking irritation

Question 3

Which essential oils are considered to be extreme irritants?

Answer 3

• horseradish
• mustard

Question 4

Which essential oils are considered to be strong irritants?

Answer 4

• cade (rectified)
• massola
• pine (dwarf)
• terebinth (if oxidized)

Question 5

Which essential oils are considered to be moderate irritants?

Answer 5

• albies alba
• birch sweet
• bitter almond
• cassia
• cinnamon bark and leaf
• clove bud, leaf, and stem
• fennel sweet
• fig leaf
• fir needle
• hyancinth
• laurel
• ocimum gratissimum
• oregano
• flouve
• parsley leaf and seed
• pimento leaf
• rue
• sage dalmation
• sassafrass
• savoury summer
• savoury winter
• spruce hemlock
• taget
• tarragon
• thyme
• verbena
• wintergreen

Question 6

Sensitization

Answer 6

• allergic skin reaction
• an autoimmune response that usually manifests as a rash
• a Japanese study showed mens skin to be twice as sensitive as womens
• situations of severe stress, lack or sleep etc. all skin types become more sensitive
• dermatitis is usually an indication of skin sensitivity

Question 7

Toxicity

Answer 7

• acute toxicity
  
  • poisoning by way of ingesting or the absorption of too much essential oil at one time
• chronic toxicity
  
  • a small amount of a toxic oil is repeatedly applied over a period of time and thus damaging the body in some way
• also includes the hazards related to pregnancy and cancer, skin allergy and/or phototoxicity, liver and kidney dysfunction, effects on the CNS and the endocrine system and damage to the eyes
• toxicity is dose dependent
• oral ingestion carries the highest risk

Question 8

Quenching

Answer 8

• when essential oils are combined in a synergy to overcome potential side effects
  
  • if an essential oil contains one or more components which are thought to be hazardous in some way, the unwanted action can be “quenched” by adding a nullifying component in a different essential oil

Question 9

Contamination

Answer 9

• may be by way of herbicides or pesticides used in large scale crop cultivation
  
  • steam distillation, solvent extration and expression do not eliminate biocides contained in pesticides and herbicides

Question 10

Adulteration

Answer 10

• a substance may have been added to modify the composition of an essential oil
• typically a synthetic aroma chemical or an aroma chemical extracted from a less expensive esssential oil

an example is Bourbon geranium oil - which is the most expensive geranium oil. It has a rose-like scent, so often less expensive geranium plants are distilled over roses or blended with rose odorants. Although this doesn’t affect the oil if it is being used for scent alone, but it’s chemical composition may be very different

Question 11

Degredation

Answer 11

• a process by which the quality of the essential oil is reduced over time
• this usually occurs with essential oils due to poor storage or prolonged storage
• main factors are oxygen, heat, and light
  
  • oxidization
    
    • accelerated by heat and light
    • changes the chemical composition of an essential oil which in turn alters the therapeutic value and can make a typically safe oil hazardous
• to avoid degredation, keep essential oils in dark coloured bottles, in a cool, dark place and as you use the essential oil, transfer it to a smaller bottle to avoid oxidization

Question 12

Shelf Life of Oils per Oxidization

Answer 12

• citrus fruits, neroli, frankincense, tea tree, pine and spruce oils: 1 - 2 years
• most other essential oils: 2 - 3 years
• sandalwood, vetiver, and patchouli: get better with age

Question 13

Oxidization prone essential oils

Answer 13

• ambrette
• frankincense
• angelica root and seed
• galbanum pine
• ginger grass
• pepper
• pteronia
• bergamot
• grapefruit
• ramy bark
• blackcurrant bud
• grindelia
• salcia stenophylla
• cape may
• satsuma
• caraway
• issa
• cistus
• kanuka
• spruce
• clementine
• hemp
• celery seed
• juniper
• melissa
• white cloud
• fleabane
• orage
• yuzu
• silver fir (cones)
• larch needle
• sumach
• cypress
• lemon
• tangelo
• dill seed
• lime
• tangerine
• elemi
• longoza
• tea tree
• ferula
• mandarin
• turpentine
• fir needle

Question 14

What must be considered when applying essential oils via massage?

Answer 14

• the percentage of dilution of the essential oil
• the total quantity of the oil applied
• the total area of the skin to which the oil is applied
• the particular essential oils being used
• the particular carrier oil being used
• the parts of the body on which the oil is applied
• the temperature and moisture content of the skin
• the absorption capacity of the skin
• the extent to which the body is covered after massage
• how soon the skin is washed following the massage

Question 15

Dermal Application

Answer 15

• essential oils diffuse through the skin relatively easily because of their small molecular structure
• various components of a single essential oil may be absorbed at different rates which probably results in the composition of the oil changing while it’s on the surface of the skin
• the rate of absorption and the total amount absorbed depends on several factors
• due to the oils being volatile, essential oils evaporate rapidly when applied to warm, uncovered skin and so the amount applied to the skin’s surface is substantially more than the amount absorbed
• when skin is damaged or diseased, the rate of percutaneous absorption can greatly increase which increases the risk of skin reactions
• viscosity tends to impede absorption through the skin, so thicker carrier oils (olive oil and almond oil) are more slowly absorbed than thinner carrier oils

Question 16

How does water influence the rate of absorption of dermally applied essential oils?

Answer 16

• hydration of the stateum corneum by way of a hot or very warm bath or shower facilitates the penetration of essential oils
• a hot essential oil (in a carrier oil) bath increase the amount of blood circulating in the dermis which enhances the aborption of the essential oil
• the temperature of a hot bath causes the oils to evapourate more quickly, so this method of application greatly increases the proportion of the oil that will be inhaled

Question 17

Which oils are phototoxic?

Answer 17

• bergamot
• grapefruit
• lemon (expressed)
• lime (expressed)
• angelica

Question 18

Oral Dosing

Answer 18

• for oral dosing, the quantity taken within a 24 hour period will typically range from 10 drops to 50 drops - about 10 times greater than that for massage
• in oral dosing it is assumed that 100% of the oil is being absorbed
• absorption into the blood stream after dermal application is much slower and thus safer than with oral application
• oral dosing is not approved in North America and most aromatherapy associations have come out strongly against oral dosing

Question 19

Baths, Inhalation and Vaporization

Answer 19

• the amounts absorbed from these three modes of application are relatively small and unless a larger amount than recommended is used will not exceed the maximum dosage
• it is difficult to measure exposure from inhalation
• inhaling concentrated essential oil for a long period of time - 20 minutes or more - can lead to neurotoxic consequences

Question 20

Which essential oil constituent causes respiratory depression in children?

Answer 20

1, 8-cineole

Question 21

Douches

Answer 21

• the amount of essential oils used in this mode varies and can go up into the oral dosage range
• generally for douches 5 - 10 drops of essential oil are added to one liter of water and well mixed before application
• another way to introduce essential oils vaginally is by way of a tampon

Question 22

Suppositories

Answer 22

• very effective
• readily absorbed and easier to administer than oral ingestion
• can be made easily by using a small rounded ice tray, coconut oil and essential oils
  
  • melt the coconut oil and fill ice tray half full and then place in freezer for about 2 hours
  • remove the ice tray from the freezer and add 2 - 5 drops of essential oil
  • top up the ice tray with melted coconut oil and place back in the freezer for another two hours

Question 23

Packaging and Labelling

Answer 23

• stored in dard coloured bottles and have a dropper dispenser
  
  • the dropper dispenser can limit the risk of ingestion if a child should open the bottle. It also allows for more precise dispensing of the essential oils by the drop
• the botanical name and part of the plant used
• country of origin
• the date of distillation should be on the label and/or a “use by date” to avoid the possibility of oxidized oils being used
• the latin binomial
• the percentage of concentration if the oil is diluted
• safety data such as “for external use only”; “keep out of reach of children”; “if ingested by a child seek immediate medical treatment”
• all of this information is difficult to get on a label due to the small size, but should be available by hand-out or insert to be given out when an essential oil is purchased

Question 24

Which oils are restricted (should not be sold over the counter to anyone unfamiliar with aromatherapy) and what is their toxic component?

Answer 24

• almond (bitter, unrectified) - hydrocyanic acid
• armoise - thujone
• artemisia aborescens - thujone
• birch (sweet) - methyl salicylate
• boldo - ascaridole
• buchu - pulegone
• cade - benzo
• calamus - asarone
• camphor (brown and yellow) - safrole
• cassia - cinnamaldehyde
• cinnamon bark - cinnamaldehyde
• costus - costuslactone
• horseradish - allyl isothiocyanate
• lanyana - thujone
• melaeuca bracteata - methyleugenol
• pennyroyal - beta-pulegone
• thuja - thujone
• wormseed - ascaridole
• wornwood - thujone

Question 25

Glutathione

Answer 25

* a substance contained in the liver * mops up free radicals before they can damage other cells * the liver contains only a limited amount of glutathion and when temporarily depleted, free radicals are able to attack and seriously damage the liver and blood cells, before the glutathione is replaced * if the damage is serious enough it can cause liver failure and hemolytic anaemia and possible death * it is unlikely that an essential oil could be absorbed in a large enough quantity to deplete glutathione through dermal application, however essential oils administered orally could probably do so