Generalisations are often made which bear little relation to the actual plants being used for the extraction of essential oils. Latin names originally thought to provide a degree of control and preciseness over the origin of essential oils have become little more than a barrier to separate the 'professional' aromatherapists from the public at large. Qualifications in aromatherapy are more or less meaningless as there are no real standards to measure against. Aromatherapy trade organisations are there to protect their own interests, not to be an independent assessor of training standards in professional aromatherapy. The contra-indications put out by aromatherapists are totally misguided.
Toxicological data is often fundamentally incorrect.
Many of the 'banned' essential oils in aromatherapy have wide-spread use in the food industry and have been approved by other scientific bodies as safe. Pennyroyal oil is frequently quoted as being 'dangerous for use during pregnancy'. Yet from the reported cases of human toxicity resulting from attempts to induce abortions or menstruation, we find little evidence of any such action. The consumption of several millilitres of pennyroyal oil is highly likely to cause toxic effects. In fact there are numerous cases of paracetamol poisoning from far lower doses.