QUESTION: Are essential oils safe to use with kids?
ANSWER: Being that essential medical oil inhalation therapies were taught me by many old timers, I have used them on many children (including my own and their kids) and a while ago I taught a CME on “Non-Rx methods to deal with respiratory illnesses” I’d personally not be excessively cautious around this (in the face of both a lot of human data and my own experience). If one looks at the eucalyptus = death publications it is clear these toxicity “events” were from the child getting either the raw product or the residue in the vaporizer and consuming it orally.
PMID: 8240865 makes the “don’t eat that shit” case and PMID: 927015 unfortunately makes it look like the steam or vapor Tx was at fault… Easy to get confused I suppose. Any other cautions seem to come from these data and would NOT generally apply to vapor or steam use if the parent or caregiver is not an idiot. Children should not be fed eucalyptus.
So, to be clear, do not feed children eucalyptus, or most full strength essential oils, and don’t give bad advice, but inhalation therapy is fine for babies through adults.
