Essential Oil Safety
is one of the most important things
to learn about Aromatherapy

Essential Oil Safety

Disclaimer: Consult your health care professional about any serious disease. Do not try to diagnose or prescribe essential oils for serious health conditions that require professional medical care.

Important precautions must be taken, even with the safest and gentlest oils.

Children, with their innate curiosity, are especially at risk and so it is highly important for their sake that you create good habits of essential oil safety. Please close all bottles tightly and store in a place that is out of reach for them.

In case of emergency

1. If an infant or child should accidentally swallow essential oils, immediately dilute the ingested oil by administering milk, soymilk, rice milk, yogurt, cream, or honey. Only use honey if the child is over 12 months of age.

2. Call your poison control center and/or seek emergency medical help.

3. If essential oils get into the eye, or if the skin should become irritated, dilute the area immediately with a vegetable or carrier oil.

Do not use water!
It can increase irritation and spread the oils. It may also cause the oil to penetrate more quickly. You may need to wipe the oil off with pure vegetable or carrier oil several times. If this does not provide relief, contact a health care professional, and discontinue use of the oil.

Special essential oil safety guidelines are covered for infants, children, pregnant/nursing women. Not all oils are safe to use for these ages and conditions.

Always use common sense. Be mindful of the fact that essential oils are powerful and highly potent. Pure essential oils are highly concentrated and only small amounts are required in their application,less is truly more. I know this is hard to believe at first, but trust us. With time, experience, and observation, you will learn this too.

Essential oils are usually diluted in vegetable oil.Their potency is retained but dilution allows for slower absorption and safer application. Slower absorption is generally preferred.

There are times when essential oils are best applied undiluted or neat, such as when fast action or intensive treatment is required.

Important Essential Oil Safety Rule

Always have carrier oil or pure vegetable oil close by to wipe off essential oils if needed. Apply the pure vegetable or carrier oil to a cotton ball, tissue or handkerchief to dilute and remove the oil.

Keep essential oils away from the eyes and the eye area. Do not rub your eyes or handle contact lenses with essential oils on your fingers.

Do not put essential oils into the ears.

The most common Essential Oil Safety Mistake

In our family, the most common problem has been accidentally touching or rubbing our eyes when we still had oil on our fingers. If this should happen, immediately remove the oil by gently dabbing your eye with a cotton ball or tissue that has vegetable or carrier oil on it. This will help dilute the oil. Do not flush the eyes with water! Water spreads the oil and could make it worse. Oils are not water soluble.

One of the most important rules for essential oil safety is to always test an essential oil on the skin before use. Each person has their own unique body chemistry and just as foods affect people differently, so do oils. Testing the oil on the soles of the feet is the safest place. Always test here for babies and children and for those with allergies. Another location is on the inside of the arm just above the elbow. 10-15 minutes is usually sufficient. If the person you are testing is prone to allergies or unusually sensitive allow for 30 minutes. Testing allows you to see how their body will respond. Always, ask about allergies.

The following are essential oil safety guidelines that are important for you to know:

1. Always have vegetable oil or carrier oil close by when applying essential oils. This is to dilute and remove the oil if necessary. Do not try and dilute the essential oils with water, it will spread the oil and could make it worse.

2.Do a skin test of the essential oil if you are using it on a person for the first time. The soles of the feet are the safest and one of the most effective places to use and test oils, especially for babies, children and those with allergies. On the inside of your arm, above the elbow, is another testing place.

3.Always ask about allergies. People with allergies need to be extra cautious when using essential oils.

4. Some citrus oils might make the skin very sensitive to the sun’s rays as they are light sensitizing. This includes the concentrated, artificial rays from tanning beds which pose a much higher risk. Avoid direct sunlight and tanning beds at least 3-4 days to avoid rash and dark pigmentation. Single oils and blends that contain citrus include lemon, orange, tangerine, grapefruit, bergamot, white angelica, citrus fresh, and joy.5. Do not apply essential oils on the mucous membranes unless diluted.

6. Certain oils should always be diluted. They can burn and injure the skin. Oils high in phenols, citrals and cinnamic aldehyde, such as thyme, oregano, clove and savory (phenols), lemongrass (citrols), cinnamon bark and leaf (cinnamic aldehyde).

7. Always use a dispersing agent, such as bath gel base , when adding essential oils to bath water. Never add undiluted essential oils to bath water as they can injure or burn the skin.8. Do not apply undiluted or neat essential oils to parts of the body that are hot, dry or tender. Instead, use a compress that has been soaked in cold water filled with dispersed essential oils.

9. Use only therapeutic grade essential oils and oil blends. This is extremely important regarding essential oil safety. Before ingesting essential oil, or applying it to your skin, know and trust your source. Most oils contain chemicals that may be dangerous and toxic. We recommend Young Living Essential Oils because of their purity and quality.

10. Before taking GRAS (generally regarded as safe) essential oils internally, always dilute in a capsule filled with vegetable oil or mix it with a teaspoon of honey, agave, or olive oil. You can also mix a drop in with rice, soy or almond milk.

11. Some essential oils are potentially flammable, including pine, fir, orange and peppermint. Keep away from open flames, and electricity.

Essential Oil Safety for Babies and Children

1. It is highly important to keep essential oils out of the reach of children. Close each bottle tightly after each use. Double check the bottles before putting away.

2. If a child or infant should accidentally swallow some essential oil, immediately have them drink an oil soluble liquid such as milk, soymilk, rice milk, cream or yogurt. Honey can be used if the child is over the age of 12 months. Call your poison control center and/or seek immediate medical emergency help.

3. Do not use peppermint or any essential oil that is rich in menthol on or near the throat and chest area of babies and children that are younger than 2 1/2 years or 30 months of age. This could potentially cause laryngeal spasms.

4 .Always check to see if the essential oil, or essential oil blend, is safe for use on infants and children.

5. The bottom of the feet is the safest and most effective place to test and use essential oils on infants and children.

Essential Oil Safety for Allergies

1.Do a skin test of the essential oil if you are using it on a person for the first time. The soles of the feet are the safest place to test, especially if the person has known allergies or sensitivities. Inside of arm above the elbow is another place.

2. Always ask about allergies. People with allergies need to be extra cautious when using essential oils. Allergic reactions can happen with oils just as they do with food. Those with asthma, hives, or eczema, have a greater chance for an allergic reaction. This does not mean that oils should not be used but to proceed slower and with greater caution. Test on the soles of the feet where there is less likely to be a reaction.

3.A person with respiratory allergies should not breathe in the air that is released close to a diffuser. Maintain a safe but reasonable distance.

4.Do not apply oils topically to the nose, throat or chest area of a person with allergies. Use oils topically on the bottom of the feet only. Slow, cautious, exposure is recommended.

Essential Oil Safety for Pregnant or Nursing Women

1. If you are pregnant or nursing, consult with your health care professional before using essential oils. Be especially mindful to avoid oils with hormone-like activity, such as clary sage, sage, Idaho tansy, and fennel.

Essential Oil Safety for Epileptics and People with High Blood Pressure

Consult with a health care profession before using essential oils

1. Avoid sage, rosemary, hyssop, and fennel.

Young Living Essential Oils are the oils we recommend because of their quality and purity.