Welcome to this toxicology fellow's guide to ESSENTIAL OILS, their toxicities, and why I am skeptical of them!

A thread :

ESSENTIAL OILS ARE NOT ESSENTIAL. The word essential in the name refers to the ESSENCE of the plant's fragrance--aka, they should be called SMELLY OILS . It does not mean essential like "omg u need this" or "it is an indispensable part of life." This can be confusing. (2/x)

Camphor Oil gets absorbed from GI tract but also from skin/mucous membranes. Toxicity is characterized by seizures and hepatotoxicity. Kids are at risk for vomiting, mental status changes, and coma. Autopsies on human case reports show neuronal necrosis and degeneration. (3/x)

Lavender Oil is comes from a cute plant but as we know from Little Shop of Horrors, sometimes that's not good. Lavender oil can cause CNS depression, and there are some case reports showing lavender oil associated with unintended gynecomastia in prepubertal boys. (4/x)

Eucalyptus Oil sounds fun b/c koalas eat eucalyptus and they seem cool. If you're a koala , you can stop reading. Everyone else, please note that kids can get sick after ingesting just a teaspoon of this oil! Toxicity looks like drowsiness, ataxia, vomiting, and seizures. (5/x)

Pennyroyal Oil contains pulegone which causes hepatotoxicity. Other signs of toxicity include vomiting, abdominal pain, seizures, and coma. Pennyroyal has been used as an abortifacient, and is perhaps the motivation behind the Nirvana song "Pennyroyal Tea" (6/x)

Clove Oil contains EUGENOL which reminds me of my friend Eugene from grade school who was really cool. Eugenol though is not cool because toxicity is characterized by hepatotoxicity, allergic reactions, and in infants/children, can lead to AMS, acidosis, and coagulopathy. (7/x)

Pine Oil sounds nice. The smell makes me think of going camping with my friends as a kid. Remember the #1 rule of camping is NEVER bring your friend that is a highly volatile, low viscosity hydrocarbon that causes mental status changes when ingested or ARDS when aspirated(8/x)

Oil of Turpentine is a mixture of pine oils and resins that comes from the tree genus Pinus (pronounce it how you want). Basically can cause all the things pine oil does, except it gets broken down into metabolites that can make your urine smell like violets!Not worth it. (9/x)

Nutmeg oil comes from the nutmeg seed. The seed itself yields an oil that contains MYRISTICIN, which sounds like a class of magic only able to be used by blood mages. Toxicity can manifest with tachycardia, GI symptoms, hallucinations, delusions. (10/x)

Oil of Wintergreen is the meanest girl you will ever meet. She will make fun of your clothes, diss you at parties, and steal your boyfriend. Just a teaspoon of her is equivalent to 7g of aspirin, which can be lethal depending on who is ingesting it. DO NOT TRUST HER. (11/x)

TAKEAWAY PART 1: Smelly oils are not essential to any human life processes. They smell nice but CAN be dangerous when unintentionally or intentionally ingested (or in some cases, inhaled/dermally applied). (12/x)

TAKEAWAY PART 2: I didn't really include specific doses of these oils because that was not the point of this, but please remember that classic adage in toxicology which is THE DOSE MAKES THE POISON!

If you liked this, maybe you want to be a toxicologist one day? :]

(fin)

UPDATE PART 1:
-Kids drink things. People hurt themselves. People can be confused/altered. Etc. Saying "people should just have common sense" is ignorant, judgemental, and helps no one
-A great reference = Goldfrank's Toxicologic Emergencies 11th edition and the sources within.

UPDATE PART 2:
-I can't/won't give medical advice over twitter. Again, remember that this thread focuses on SIGNS/SYMPTOMS/TOXICITY and that THE DOSE MAKES THE POISON. Please talk to your doc if you have any questions.
-Be kind to yourself and our patients