IFRA banned and restricted oils.

Certain oils have been banned and others restricted by IFRA, because of their particular properties, toxicity, sensitizing effect etc.

The list below shows some of the oils, with their common name, botanic name as well as other common names it might be known under. If you know of any other oil that was omitted, kindly mail us at info@essentialoils.co.za with the details

IFRA banned oils

Name	known as	Botanical name	Action
Cade oil crude	prickly juniper and juniper tar	Juniperus oxycedrus	Carcinogenic
Calamus oil	sweet flag, myrtle flag, sweet rush and sweet sedge	Acorus calamus	Carcinogenic
Costus root	kuth	Saussurea costus	Sensitizer
Elecampane oil	scabwort	Inula helenium	Sensitizer
Fig leaf absolute		Ficus carica	Sensitizer
Horseradish oil		Armoracia rusticana	Toxic and irritant
Mustard oil	black mustard	Brassica nigra	Toxic and irritant
Peru balsam	balsam of Peru, Balsamo	Myroxylon var. pereirae	Sensitizer (distilled oil is allowed)
Savin oil		Juniperus sabina	Toxic and sensitizer although Juniper phoenicea oil is allowed
Verbena oil		Lippia citriodora / Aloysia triphylla	Sensitizer
Tea absolute		Thea sinensis / Camellia sinensis	Sensitizer
Sassafras oil		Sassafras albidum	Carcinogenic
Stryax gum	oriental sweet gum and storax	Liquidambar orientalis	Sensitizer
Wormseed	(also called Epazote or Mexican Tea)	Chenopodium ambroisoides	Toxic
Wormwood oil		Artemisia absinthium	Neurotoxin

IFRA restricted oils

The following oils are not banned but care must be taken with the amount of active ingredients (compounds) contained in the oil, and the possible side effects of sensitizing and phototoxicity must be kept in mind when treating a client.

Name	known as	Botanical name	Action
Angelica root oil		Angelica archangelica	Phototoxic
Bergamot oil	bergamot orange	Citrus aurantium ssp. Bergamia	Phototoxic
Bitter orange oil	Seville orange	Citrus aurantium	Phototoxic
Cassia oil	cassia bark, Chinese cinnamon	Cinnamomum cassia	Sensitizer
Cinnamon bark	cinnamon, Ceylon cinnamon	Cinnamomum zeylanicum	Sensitizer
Cumin oil	comino, jeera	Cuminum cyminum	Phototoxic
Grapefruit oil		Citrus paradisi	Phototoxic
Lemon oil		Citrus limon	Phototoxic
Lime oil		Citrus aurantifolia	Phototoxic
Tagetes oil and absolute	muster-John-Henry, khaki weed, stinking Rodger	Tagetes minuta	Phototoxic
Oak moss absolute and resinoid		Evernia prunastri	Sensitizer
Pinaceae oils	to have less than 10 millimoles peroxide per litre	Pinaceae mugo, P. nigra, P. pinaster, P. sylvatica	Sensitizer
Rue oil	herb of grace, herbygrass	Ruta graveolens	Sensitizer
Verbena absolute		Lippia citriodora / Aloysia triphylla	Sensitizer
Tree moss absolute		(Pseudeo) Evernia furfuracea	Sensitizer

Headings of links underneath

Use of essential oils | List of essential oils | List of pre-blended oils

List of carrier oils | Recipes | Essential oil safety

Related articles | Manufacture of oils

Holistic and alternative medicine

Treatment of ailments

Links to essential oils, carrier oils and specialized pre-blended oils

ESSENTIAL OILS

ESSENTIAL OILS
NOT SOLD BY US

PRE-BLENDED
FORMULAS

OTHER OILS

CARRIER OILS

CARRIER OILS
NOT SOLD BY US