12 Safety Rules for Essential Oils

(The Chemistry of Essential Oils Made Simple, by David Stewart. Page 486)

1. Keep them out of reach of children. Consider them as you would any therapeutic product in your home.

2. Keep a bottle of carrier oil handy (olive, coconut, jojoba, etc). It will dilute an essential oil and slow down its rate of absorption if there should be any discomfort or skin irritation.

3. People with sensitive skin can use a patch test to determine if they would react to a particular oil. It is generally safe to apply essential oils to the soles of the feet even for people with sensitive skin.

4. Pregnant women should consult their health care professional before using essential oils. Oils with hormonal qualities should probably be avoided. EO with hormonal benefits – fennel, anise, sage, clary sage, blue tansy, tarragon, niaouli, cypress, myrtle, wild tansy, chamazulene (found in blue tansy), helichrysum & German chamomile. Taken from page 413 of The Chemistry of Essential Oils Made Easy.


5. Essential oils rich in phenols should be used with caution when applying to the skin. Sensitive areas such as the throat & face should be avoided, as well as the tender skin of young children. EO with phenol include – wintergreen, anise birch, clove, basil, tarragon, fennel, oregano, thyme, mountain savory, peppermint, tea tree, calamus, cinnamon bark, Moroccan thyme, citronella, marjoram, nutmeg, lemon eucalyptus, parsley, ylang ylang, cassia, onycha, bay laurel, e. dives, sweet thyme, thuja, hyssop, cumin, eucalyptus, myrtle, rose, Spanish marjoram, carrot seed, catnip, helichrysum, neroli, sage, bergamot, blue mallee, myrrh, petitgrain, spearmint. Taken from Table 48 of The Chemistry of Essential Oils Made Easy.

6. Keep essential oils away from the eye area where even the vapors can cause irritation. Do not handle contact lenses or rub the eyes with essential oils on your fingers. Oils with high phenol contact can damage lenses and irritate eyes. If essential oils accidentally get into the eyes, dab a carrier oil in the eyes to stop the burning. Don’t use water. Water will drive the oil in faster, increasing the burning sensation.

7. Essential oils may be applied on or around the ears, but don’t pour essential oils directly into the ears.

8. People with epilepsy, high blood pressure, or who are prone to convulsions should consult a health care professional before using essential oils. Hyssop, fennel & wild tansy oils should probably be avoided in these cases.

9. Essential oils have been designated by the FDA as being "Generally Regarded as Safe" for oral usage. This designation is abbreviated as "GRAS." Before ingesting them, GRAS oils may be diluted with honey, milk, rice milk, olive oil, or other lipid dissolving liquid.

10. In using essential oils in bathwater, first add a dispersent, like a gel or liquid soap, to avoid concentrated droplets that can sometimes gravitate to sensitive areas of the body. There are ways to safely disperse oils in a bath given in most books on applied aromatherapy.

11. Some oils are phototoxic. When applied to the skin, avoid direct sunlight or the rays of tanning lamps for at least 12 hours afterwards. EO's considered phototoxic – angelica, bergamot, bitter orange, grapefruit, lemon, lime, petitgrain & rue.
Taken from page 381 of The Chemistry of Essential Oils Made Simple.

12. Keep essential oils in tightly closed glass bottles away from light in cool places. (Normal room temperatures are cool enough.) In this way, they will maintain their balanced chemical composition and potency indefinitely.




ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Dr. David Stewart studied theology, philosophy, and English at Central Methodist College in Fayette, Missouri (1955-58) and studied chemistry, biology and social sciences at Central Missouri State University in Warrensburg (1962-63). He also studied commercial photography at Los Angeles Trade Technical College (1959-60). He completed a BS degree in Mathematics and Physics at Missouri School of Mines and Metallurgy in 1965 and was salutatorian of his graduating class. His MS and PhD degrees are in geophysics (theoretical seismology) and were earned from the University of Missouri at Rolla in 1969 and 1971 respectively. He spent a semester in medical school at the University of North Carolina (1973) and has been a Certified Childbirth Educator (CCE) with the American Academy of Husband-Coached Childbirth (AAHCC) since 1975.

Dr. Stewart is also a Registered Aromatherapist (RA) with the nationally recognized Aromatherapy Registration Council (ARC), which is endorsed by the National Association of Holistic Aromatherapists (NAHA), of which he is a member.

He has held positions as a hydraulic engineer and hydrologist with the U.S. Geological Survey in Southern California (1965-67). He was a professor on the faculty of the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, (1971-1978) and also held a professorship at Southeast Missouri State University (1988-1993). He was also a part-time United Methodist Pastor (1993-94, 1997-99) in rural Missouri. He has been the Executive Director of the InterNational Association of Parents and Professionals for Safe Alternatives in Childbirth (NAPSAC International) since its founding in 1975.

For most of his professional career, Dr. Stewart has been self-employed as an author and lecturer, mainly in the area of alternative health care. He has also served on advisory committees to the American Public Health Association (APHA) and the American College of Nurse-Midwives (ACNM). He has testified as an expert on health matters before state legislative committees, U.S. congressional committees, medical licensing boards and courts of law throughout the U.S. as well as in Canada.

He has authored or coauthored over 200 published works including more than a dozen books (including Healing Oils of the Bible). Two of his books won the “Books of the Year” Award from the American Journal of Nursing. One of his flyers on breastfeeding (published by La Leche League International, LLLI) sold over two million copies in ten languages.