While researching safety issues related to essential oil use, the Aromatherapy United team realized no one in the industry was actually collecting reports on injuries or adverse effects. It turns out that the National Association of Holistic Aromatherapy had discontinued collecting these reports sometime in the past year or so, without anyone but the person responsible for removing it realizing it.

So Aromatherapy United team-member and former NAHA Safety Committee Chairperson, Sylla Sheppard-Hanger, volunteered to take over the responsibility for collecting these reports. There is an enormous amount of pressure from the companies who are promoting the activities which lead to these injuries and adverse effects, to keep these incidents hidden. That is one reason Aromatherapy United has moved into the next phase of safety advocacy. Going forward, we will be both hosting reports and working with Sylla and her school, the Atlantic Institute of Aromatherapy, one of our sponsors, to facilitate collecting reported adverse effects which are later compiled and summarized for the public on this site.

Since early in 2014, the Atlantic Institute of Aromatherapy has been collecting data on cases of injury and adverse effects of essential oils, where they are assessed and summarized by volunteers into the injury reports you see on this site. These Reports outline experiences from individuals, who were directly impacted, or had direct observation of the adverse effects upon an individual who used the essential oil/blend (Ex: A parent reporting an adverse effect with their child). Reports of adverse reactions and injuries are completed by those individuals using a formatted submission form and are entirely voluntary. The personal privacy and public anonymity of each person filing a report with us is carefully observed and heavily protected under a strict code of ethics we adhere to. As such, individual’s names or other personal information, which is ultimately irrelevant to the injury collection process and public reporting, are not given or shared within the collective reports and summaries.

Thank you for visiting and sharing these injury reports linked below. It is our hope they will lead to greatly reduced incidents of adverse effects and one day, we will not need to collect or read about such happenings any longer.

— The Aromatherapy United Volunteers

.