"POSITION STATEMENT:Essential Oils in Healthcare Settings"

BACKGROUNDThe use of essential oils in various settings is growing, in part due to a move to 'natural' products and increasing marketing of these as substitutes for conventional medicine and vaccines, and as cleaning products.Oils are being applied topically, ingested, and diffused, often without sufficient scientific evidence to support these uses, or consideration of potential toxic effects [1].While the use of essential oils may have perceived positive effects for an individual, such as a reduction in stress [2], there is currently insufficient scientific evidence or consensus that they are effective to prevent or treat communicable diseases such as influenza, or for use as cleaning products or pesticides/insect repellants, and they should not be promoted as such [3][4][5][6].Studies have shown some essential oils to have antiseptic or antiviral properties (e.g., tea tree oil [7-9], elderberry extract [10], and natural phenols [11]), and while there is some promising research to show that essential oils may assist in illness prevention and treatment [8,11], inhibit organism growth [7], or help to eliminate biofilms when used in conjunction with traditional antimicrobials [12], the majority of these studies are in vitro [7,11,13].There are no established standard concentrations of essential oils, and currently insufficient evidence exists to recommend their use in healthcare settings such as hospitals, long-term care homes, and clinical offices (including physiotherapy and massage), residential settings such as retirement homes and group homes, and community settings such as schools and daycares.Some natural products may cause harm to individuals, when used as an adjunct to traditional medicine [14].In addition, the scents and ingredients of essential oils and products containing these may cause allergic reactions [15][16][17], sensitization or phototoxic effects [18], and contravene facility "no scent" policies.Health Canada has explicit information regarding the use of essential oils, including that these should not be ingested, should not be applied to This position statement was developed by the Standards and Guidelines Committee.