Aromatherapy Inaccuracies. Massage Magazine, Issue 184, September 2011, pp. 16-17.
Please accept the following as what I consider to be inaccuracies in the online article “With Essential Oil Sales, Safety Comes First.”
1. You should tell your client: “Do not ingest essential oils, unless otherwise directed by a qualified medical practitioner,” if you provide any essential oils in the course of your practice. In Florida, if you create a foreseeable “zone of risk” (i.e. create a situation which leads to an injury), you can be found legally responsible for those injuries to your clients caused by failing to advise them not to ingest essential oils.
Accordingly, you must check both the case law and statues of the state in which you practice, as each state has its own nuances.
2. If you are mixing a synergy of essential oil(s) and carrier oil(s) for a client, the dilution should generally be 1 to 3 percent, depending on a number of variables. If you don’t have sufficient information about essential and carrier oils, then you should not be providing them to a client. (If you are mixing the oils, you are the manufacturer and are held to the standard of care required of a manufacturer, and must comply with all of the applicable laws of your state.)
3. In addition to existing conditions, you should make sure your client is not taking any medication, or homeopathy, which would be adversely affected by exposure to essential oils.
4. If you are providing an essential oil synergy you created, you are the manufacture and must provide the necessary information required by your state.
Director of Education, Miami Aromatherapy, Inc.
Miami, Florida
Massage Magazine
