Facts About Pennyroyal

Uses

• Folk herbalists recommend pennyroyal tea to treat stomach upset, respiratory ailments and to regulate menstruation, as well as to induce abortion. Pennyroyal is a natural insect repellent and common ingredient in natural flea collars and repellents.

Methods

• Rub fresh pennyroyal leaves on exposed skin to repel mosquitoes, chiggers and fleas, suggests James A. Duke in "The Green Pharmacy." Steep fresh or dried pennyroyal leaves in hot water and use as a soothing skin wash. Some herbalists recommend drinking a cup of pennyroyal infusion to lessen cold and upper respiratory symptoms, but altMD suggests that other mint plants have the same positive effects without the toxicity.

Dangers

• Pennyroyal essential oil is toxic in relatively small doses. In the book, "Tyler's Honest Herbal," botanists Steven Foster and Varro Tyler note 24 reported cases of pennyroyal toxicity, including one infant death and another infant with multiple organ failures. Foster and Tyler also note that even the small amounts of essential oil in pennyroyal tea may be toxic to infants and that the amounts needed to induce abortion are lethal or near lethal. Pregnant women should also avoid using natural insect repellents that contain pulgeone or pennyroyal because of the risk of miscarriage.