Safety is a primary concern for the Atlantic Institute of Aromatherapy. The National Association for Holistic Aromatherapy defines safety as “a state of being free from risk or occurrence of injury, harm, or danger.” To read up on their safety ethics and information for the skin, pregnancy, eye safety, and general safety visit their new condensed safety page. Here is a link to the old safety pages no longer available on the new site with many papers by volunteers created over many years. Another fantastic resource is the Alliance of International Aromatherapists. Their safety page provides a comprehensive guide on general safety, storage, dilution, and much more.

Have you or someone who know been harmed by essential oils? 

Even though essential oils are generally safe, there are still ways that certain oils or applications can harm you or someone else. We are gathering data on these cases and will soon be releasing a report to the public.

Individual reports are complied into summaries and can be viewed on AromatherapyUnited.org.


Aromatherapy Undiluted- Safety And Ethics – December 2005

Safety Committee NAHA Report AGM – September 2000

Safety Committee Chair: Tony Burfield

Advisor: Sylla Sheppard-Hanger

Members: Susan Renkle, Janell King-Squires, Marge Clark

We are recommending to Conference 2000 that NAHA adopts the IFRA Voluntary Code of Practice with respect to the use of natural fragrance ingredients i.e. as it apples to the following essential oils, absolutes, resinoids and gums etc., where these items are used in massage oils.

Spring 2000 – Sensitization Revisited Again

This issue deals the phenomenon of sensitization and the problems that can occur when using certain essential oils with known sensitising potential.

Winter 1999 – Sensitivity Revisited (or where is Paracelsus when we need him?) 

Premier article dealing with the need for standards in and attention to safety issues in the discipline of aromatherapy. Also discussed are the potential ramifications (legal, regulatory and legitimization) caused by a failure to take these issues into consideration.

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