Essential oil use causes problems at a daycare facility

[DeeAnna]

Many people seem to think essential oils are very safe because they're "natural." Nothing could be further from the truth.

An incident occurred recently in Middleton, Idaho, that shows how unsafe EOs can be in the hands of people who don't know what they're doing:

"...the children [in our daycare] were very hyper, and then they crashed. Two teachers also had headaches and felt nauseous. [Daycare manager] Hagaman says at that point it seemed like they were experiencing carbon monoxide poisoning....

"Firefighters believe that essential oils being diffused in the back room while the kids were sleeping caused the bizarre reactions.

" 'We've got some essential oils to kind of help with the different smells in the room of toddlers and to help with the viruses that are going around and stuff," Hagaman said. "We had it up here on top of the little shelf, and it was going pretty steady.'

"Firefighters say with a main ingredient being cinnamon, the oils were potent at that level, causing the children and teachers in that back room to become nauseous, light-headed and spacey...."

Source: http://www.ktvb.com/story/news/loca...-safe-after-middleton-daycare-scare/78371700/

 

[lenarenee]

I hope this news gets around the country and starts a discussion about the need to be educated and respectful in the use of essential oils.

 

[lsg]

That is scary.

 

[Susie]

I have a coworker that thought he was going blind. Got appointments with lots of specialists. Spent lots of money. Come to find out that he was reacting to an oil diffuser with YL EOs that were supposed to cure everything.

 

[Arimara]

I hope this news gets around the country and starts a discussion about the need to be educated and respectful in the use of essential oils.

Agreed. I know someone who was taking ginko leaf and another herb and was complaining about having issues. I basically let them have it for assuming herbals were safe enough to take without doing the research on them (on top of telling me I'm not smarter than they are and they knew was they were doing).

 

[Saponista]

Olbas oil can be harmful to small children if ingested, but people often don't realise and put it near them on cloths which they can suck. There have been several cases of poisoning as people think that it's harmless as its made from natural essential oils.

 

[Steve85569]

Castor seeds are natural too. Ricin. No antidote.
Nightshade, Morning Glory seed, ad infinitum. Never ever assume that anything "natural " is safe.
Do your research and due diligence. The life you save may be your own child's.

 

[galaxyMLP]

Olbas oil can be harmful to small children if ingested, but people often don't realise and put it near them on cloths which they can suck. There have been several cases of poisoning as people think that it's harmless as its made from natural essential oils.

Oh my goodness! That's the stuff my mom used to buy when we visited Canada to use on us when we got a cold!! I forgot the name. She used to buy multiple bottles when we visited b/c she couldn't find it in the US.

My mom was responsible with it though! She would always dilute it with a carrier oil and we were already older when she used it on us. She also put it in our humidifier. That worked well. As to "perfectly safe", probably not but, she never used it on other kids and she knew that we personally were not sensitive to it. We definitely knew NOT to eat it!!

I can't believe they were using cinnamon oil like that in the article though. That's a really potent one. Lavender is one thing but, cinnamon??

 

[MrsSpaceship]

This is a major anger trigger for me.
I live in a heavy Do It Yourself/Work from home state and it seems that everybody is selling, I can go into a mom & pop shop and there they are, but the actual knowledge (and a healthy dose of respect) is sorely lacking. I give these individuals wide berth now because it's just so frustrating to listen to them prattle on and be completely closed to any information other than what they've been spoon fed by their MLM of choice.

 

[DeeAnna]

The important thing with a diffuser like they were using is to use it in a space that has decent air circulation. They were using it in what they called a "back room" that I got the impression might have been a rather small enclosed space. Have you ever gone into a public bathroom with one of those timed fragrance misters and got an instant headache?

Another key point is if you're going to use a diffuser, then diffuse for only a short period of time per day. That can be, say 2 hours continuously then off for the rest of the day or could be a cycle of 3 minutes on and 12 minutes off for some hours, or whatever. I think they were wanting to cover up objectionable odors with the scent, but the correct thing to do for an odor problem is to dilute and eliminate the odors, not cover them up. Even a build up of ammonia in the air from urine can cause health problems.

The people exposed to the EO should always have the ability to move away from the diffuser as needed. If the children and their care givers were required to stay in that back room rather than be free to move around, the diffuser should never have been placed in that space, even if it was used properly.

And last but not least, the daycare staff apparently had no idea that small children and infants do not have the physical maturity to be exposed to many types of EOs. Even lavender, which is often considered to be quite safe, should be used with care around little ones and only for a good reason. Same goes for the use of any kind of masking fragrance whether it's "natural" or not.

I noted the brand name of the diffuser (YL) in the article's picture and thought to myself this is yet another example of why I want nothing to do with that particular company and its ilk.

 

[HoneyLady]

Yes, I am frequently asked why I don't use EOs exclusively in my honey/beeswax soaps. I explain that I don't have the time to study to be a Naturopath, but what I have learned studying soapmaking suggests that for many EOs, the level of usage to survive saponification makes them potentially irritating or harmful. Citrus can cause photosensitivity, cinnamon, clove, menthol, can be extremely irritating to delicate skin, open scratches, mucus membranes, etc.

When I explain that FOs are much more regulated than EOs, people are usually surprised.

As Steve alluded to earlier in the thread, the difference between a 'medicine' and a 'poison' so to speak, is often only the concentration, and the dose.

~HoneyLady~

 

[shunt2011]

I'm constantly asked for EO undiluted at my shows and I tell them I don't sell EO's to the public. Not all are safe and I wouldn't want anyone hurt with all the false information out there. I don't want to be responsible for someone doing something stupid.

That is so concerning, especially where children are concerned.

 

[MySoapyHeart]

Just because something is so easy to get a hold and use, doesn`t mean reading up on valuable information is something to be avoided. Especially when innocent small children are involved.

 

[Spice]

Eo are just as unsafe as Fo. The FDA said that cotton oil was harmful to humans, eggs are too. Now that has changed. Anything that is misused can kill us. Not all soap makers are created eqaul either. When one soap maker screws up, we all screw up. That's how our clients see us. People need to be more carefull on what they are doing.

Eo are just as unsafe as Fo. The FDA said that cotton oil was harmful to humans, eggs are too. Now that has changed. Anything that is misused can kill us. Not all soap makers are created eqaul either. When one soap maker screws up, we all screw up. That's how our clients see us. People need to be more carefull on what they are doing.

Cotton oil....wth is cotton oil? jajajaja! Good one Spice:wave: How bout coconut oil!

 

[HoneyLady]

Cotton seed can indeed be pressed to expel oil. Crisco was originally hydrogenated cotton seed oil. :mrgreen:

We no longer grow and use the amounts of cotton we used to, so cotton seed oil is no longer as widely used as it once was. But it's still out there, available to soapers, and often used in livestock feed.

~HoneyLady~