Health Library

Sassafras oil overdose

Sassafras oil comes from the root bark of the sassafras tree. Sassafras oil overdose occurs when someone swallows more than the normal or recommended amount of this substance. This can be by accident or on purpose.

This article is for information only. DO NOT use it to treat or manage an actual overdose. If you or someone you are with has overdosed, call the local emergency number (such as 911), or the local poison control center can be reached directly by calling the national toll-free Poison Help hotline (1-800-222-1222) from anywhere in the United States.

I Would Like to Learn About:

Poisonous Ingredient

Safrole is the poisonous ingredient in sassafras oil. It is a clear or slightly yellow oily liquid. It can be dangerous in large amounts.

Where Found

Sassafras oil is banned in foods and medicines in the United States and Canada, except for very small amounts of safrole. Safrole can cause cancer.

In some parts of the world, sassafras oil is used in aromatherapy.

Symptoms

Below are symptoms of a sassafras oil overdose in different parts of the body.

STOMACH AND INTESTINES

• Abdominal pain
• Diarrhea
• Nausea and vomiting

HEART AND BLOOD

• Low blood pressure
• Pounding heartbeat (palpitations)
• Rapid heartbeat

LUNGS

• Rapid breathing
• Shallow breathing

NERVOUS SYSTEM

• Dizziness
• Hallucinations
• Unconsciousness

SKIN

• Burns (if the oil is on the skin)

Home Care

Seek medical help right away. Do not make the person throw up unless poison control or a health care provider tells you to.

Before Calling Emergency

Have this information ready:

• Person's age, weight, and condition
• Name of the product (ingredients and strength, if known)
• Time it was swallowed
• Amount swallowed

Poison Control

The local poison control center can be reached directly by calling the national toll-free Poison Help hotline (1-800-222-1222) from anywhere in the United States. This national hotline will let you talk to experts in poisoning. They will give you further instructions.

This is a free and confidential service. All local poison control centers in the United States use this national number. You should call if you have any questions about poisoning or poison prevention. It does NOT need to be an emergency. You can call for any reason, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.

You can also get online poison help now at Poisonhelp.org. Just enter the product, poison, or medicine to get expert help.

What to Expect at the Emergency Room

Take the container with you to the hospital, if possible.

Your provider will measure and monitor your vital signs, including temperature, pulse, breathing rate, and blood pressure.

Tests that may be done include:

• Blood and urine tests
• Chest x-ray
• Electrocardiogram (ECG)

Treatment may include:

• Activated charcoal
• Breathing support, including tube through the mouth into the lungs and connected to a breathing machine (ventilator)
• Fluids through a vein (by IV)
• Laxative
• Medicine to reverse the effect of the poison and treat symptoms

Outlook (Prognosis)

How well someone does depends on the amount of sassafras oil swallowed and how quickly treatment is received. The faster medical help is given, the better the chance is for recovery.

Sassafras oil is very toxic. If damage to the liver or kidneys occurs, it may take several months to heal. Sassafras oil can also cause cancer if someone uses it for a long time.

References

Aronson JK. Lauraceae. In: Aronson JK, ed. Meyler's Side Effects of Drugs. 16th ed. Waltham, MA: Elsevier; 2016:484-486.

Meehan TJ. Care of the poisoned patient. In: Walls RM, ed. Rosen's Emergency Medicine: Concepts and Clinical Practice. 10th ed. Philadelphia, PA: Elsevier; 2023:chap 135.

National Center for Biotechnology Information website. PubChem Compound Summary for CID 5144, Safrole. pubchem.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/compound/Safrole. Accessed May 2, 2026.

Nelson LS, Calello DP. Acute poisoning. In: Goldman L, Cooney KA, eds. Goldman-Cecil Medicine. 27th ed. Philadelphia, PA: Elsevier; 2024:chap 96.

Theobald JL, Corcoran JN. Poisoning. In: Kliegman RM, St. Geme JW, Blum NJ, et al, eds. Nelson Textbook of Pediatrics. 22nd ed. Philadelphia, PA: Elsevier; 2025:chap 94.

Review Date: 10/14/2025  

Reviewed By: Jesse Borke, MD, CPE, FAAEM, FACEP, Attending Physician at Kaiser Permanente, Orange County, CA. Also reviewed by David C. Dugdale, MD, Medical Director, Brenda Conaway, Editorial Director, and the A.D.A.M. Editorial team.

A.D.A.M., Inc. is accredited by URAC, for Health Content Provider (www.urac.org). URAC's accreditation program is an independent audit to verify that A.D.A.M. follows rigorous standards of quality and accountability. A.D.A.M. is among the first to achieve this important distinction for online health information and services. Learn more about A.D.A.M.'s editorial policy, editorial process and privacy policy. A.D.A.M. is also a founding member of Hi-Ethics. This site complies with the HONcode standard for trustworthy health information: verify here.

The information provided herein should not be used during any medical emergency or for the diagnosis or treatment of any medical condition. A licensed medical professional should be consulted for diagnosis and treatment of any and all medical conditions. Links to other sites are provided for information only -- they do not constitute endorsements of those other sites. No warranty of any kind, either expressed or implied, is made as to the accuracy, reliability, timeliness, or correctness of any translations made by a third-party service of the information provided herein into any other language.

© 1997- 2026 A.D.A.M., a business unit of Ebix, Inc. Any duplication or distribution of the information contained herein is strictly prohibited.

All content on this site including text, images, graphics, audio, video, data, metadata, and compilations is protected by copyright and other intellectual property laws. You may view the content for personal, noncommercial use. Any other use requires prior written consent from Ebix. You may not copy, reproduce, distribute, transmit, display, publish, reverse-engineer, adapt, modify, store beyond ordinary browser caching, index, mine, scrape, or create derivative works from this content. You may not use automated tools to access or extract content, including to create embeddings, vectors, datasets, or indexes for retrieval systems. Use of any content for training, fine-tuning, calibrating, testing, evaluating, or improving AI systems of any kind is prohibited without express written consent. This includes large language models, machine learning models, neural networks, generative systems, retrieval-augmented systems, and any software that ingests content to produce outputs. Any unauthorized use of the content including AI-related use is a violation of our rights and may result in legal action, damages, and statutory penalties to the fullest extent permitted by law. Ebix reserves the right to enforce its rights through legal, technological, and contractual measures.