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The danger of using essential oils in aromatherapy (3)

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3.The danger of using essential oils in aromatherapy (3)

The use of essential oils during pregnancy may be the most sensitive area of aromatherapy, which has led to a variety of highly conservative discussions. More general advice from the use of essential oils during pregnancy to the use of the most non-toxic essential oils in very small doses. Most aromatherapy literature clearly states that essential oils with "emmenagogic" effects, ie essential oils that may affect the menstrual cycle, should not be used during pregnancy.


This prevailing practice may be due to the philosophy of “doubt not to use” and the misuse of various toxic parameters, fear of public misuse and legal proceedings arising therefrom. In addition, the lack of understanding of the hormones and physiological processes during pregnancy is one of the reasons.



The effects of essential oils on pregnancy involve the following three aspects::

  • Certain essential oils may damage developing fetuses [such as teratogenicity]. Causes fetal reabsorption or birth defects.

  • Certain essential oils can cause abortion or miscarriage/premature.

  • Essential oils that can affect hormone levels interfere with fertility or affect normal pregnancy.



3.1 Effect of essential oil dose on pregnancy

A large number of reported cases involving severe high-dose essential oils causing severe poisoning or death of unborn babies, all of which are invariably pointed out by the fact that pregnant women are taking large doses or poisoning doses of certain special essential oils, especially those rich in menthol. Peppermint oil, which is metabolized in the body to a highly toxic furan epoxy compound, menthofaran, and parsley seed oil, which is rich in dimethyl alcohol-containing apiol, which can cause Fetal abortion, this kind of compound is actually a very bad abortion (abortifacient). Women often experience severe poisoning after oral administration, sometimes fatal poisoning, and sometimes do not cause fetal abortion.

Guun completed the study of human isolated uterus exposed to essential oils commonly used as abortion agents such as Juniper oil, eucalyptus oil, rue oil, savin oil and tansy oil. These tested essential oils did not directly stimulate the uterine muscles (the uterine muscles are stimulated to cause fetal paralysis and may be premature). Another study also showed that such essential oils do not directly cause fetal death and cause spontaneous abortion.

It is the only abortion agent when it is taken in large doses. It causes acute liver poisoning (liver injury) and causes termination of pregnancy. Oral administration of up to 7.5-10 ml of peppermint oil will not cause miscarriage. The lowest dose of celery brain abortion is equivalent to taking 1.5-6 ml of parsley oil every day for 8 days.

It is well known that when many authors of aromatherapy publications use a small portion of a highly toxic dose as a safe dose, their understanding of the toxicity of essential oils is incorrect. Recently, I have seen some specifications for atomized essential oils for fresh and disinfected air in the care room. The instructions suggest that any essential or toxic oils should not be used in places where pregnant women are resting.

Let us recall that the example of inhaling the aroma of the peppermint oil, that is, 10% of the peppermint oil is used together with plant essential oils such as Eucalyptus radiata and sea pine. We also use an aerosol generator for each The above-mentioned mixed essential oil is sprayed at a rate of about 1 ml per hour, and the aroma of the spray is inhaled for 15 minutes three times a day, and it is assumed that the body absorbs up to 50% of the essential oil. According to the above conditions, we can obtain the following results:


  • 15min × 3 times = 45min × 1.0ml / h = 0.75ml discharge

  • 0.75ml × 50% absorption rate = 0.375ml possible inhalation and absorption

  • 0.375 ml × 10% (concentration of walnut oil) = 0.0375 ml. That is about 35ml of peppermint oil

  • Human LD50=0.4 for walnut oil, for adults weighing 60kg, equivalent to 24g walnut oil

  • 35mg ÷ 24g = 0.14%, which is 0.14% of the semi-lethal dose

  • This value does not even reach 1/700 of the poisoning dose.


Of course, this is a small dose, if the essential oil mixture is sprayed throughout the indoor space, a small fraction of the 35 mg of peppermint oil may be absorbed. There are many examples of such an example. For example, 12.5-25 mg of tar, spit on the meat mites to kill papillra wart virus, and camphor-containing rosemary oil and methyl black pepper phenol-containing basil oil are formulated into a concentration of 5%. Relieve low back pain in the third phase of pregnancy. The doses used in the above two examples are much lower than the acute and chronic toxic doses.
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