Wormwood Tea (Dangers): What to Know Before Drinking

Check before you drink: wormwood tea is not an everyday tea, and it is not for pregnancy, breastfeeding, children or people with liver or bile duct disease. Wormwood contains thujone, which the European Medicines Agency (EMA) calls neurotoxic, meaning it can harm the nervous system. [1] In animals thujone causes convulsions (seizures). [2][3] The EMA does not recommend wormwood in pregnancy or breastfeeding, and says its medicines should only be used in adults. [1][4] A 2025 report describes two people with toxic hepatitis after wormwood, one of whom died after a liver transplant. [5] If someone may have swallowed wormwood oil or a large amount of wormwood and has a seizure, confusion or faints, call a poison center (US: 1-800-222-1222) or your local emergency number.

This page is a safety profile. It does not give brewing directions or amounts, on purpose. For the plant profile see the wormwood herb page.

What wormwood is

Wormwood is the above-ground part of Artemisia absinthium L., a plant in the daisy family (Asteraceae). [10] It is a herbal tea (tisane), not a true tea. It is the plant behind the spirit absinthe. [6]

Not the same as sweet wormwood. Artemisia annua (sweet wormwood, qing hao) is a different species, also in the daisy family. [10][11] It is the source of artemisinin, which is part of modern malaria treatment. [8] Memorial Sloan Kettering (MSK) describes liver case reports for A. annua, including hepatitis in a person who drank artemisia tea as malaria prevention, and New Zealand's regulator linked an A. annua extract capsule to liver harm. [8][9] Findings for one plant do not apply to the other. Check the Latin name on the label.

Taste, caffeine and how to brew

In the EU, wormwood herb is authorized only as a short-term traditional herbal medicine for adults, in forms that include an herbal tea, and the product must state how much thujone it holds. [1][4] That is a regulated medicine, not an invitation to brew wormwood at home. The EU monograph says plants low in thujone should be preferred and that daily thujone exposure from these products must stay below 6.0 mg. [4] Thujone content varies between plants.

What research found about the tea itself

There are no human trials of wormwood tea in the sources we read, and no good evidence of benefit from the tea. Proper evidence not found for trials of the tea itself.

Limits: the Crohn's studies were very small, did not test tea and cannot be credited to wormwood alone. The harm reports are case reports and cannot say how common harm is.

Check before you drink

• Do not use it as an everyday tea. Seizures from thujone are the main hazard. [1][2][3] People with epilepsy or a seizure history should ask a doctor. See epilepsy and seizure risk with herbs and oils.
• Liver: the EMA lists liver disease and bile duct disease as reasons not to use wormwood. [4] The 2025 report calls its two cases the first documented human cases and does not say whether the herb was taken as tea. [5] Cell experiments suggest thujone may trigger porphyria, a group of rare metabolic disorders. [3] See liver and kidney cautions.
• Pregnancy and breastfeeding: not recommended, because data are lacking. [4] In pregnant rats, a wormwood extract led to fewer implantation sites and fewer pups, and thujone is known to stimulate the uterus. [4] The EMA says thujone-containing herbal products should be minimized in pregnant women and children. [3] See pregnancy teas to ask about.
• Babies and children: the EMA says adults only; use under 18 is not recommended for lack of data. [1][4] See herbal tea for babies and children.
• Allergy and bile problems: do not use if allergic to wormwood or other daisy-family plants (such as ragweed). People with gallstones or other bile disorders should see a doctor first. [4] See herbal tea allergy and cross-reactions.
• Kidney: a 2024 case report attributed severe acute kidney failure in a teenager to a mixture of three plants including wormwood; wormwood alone cannot be blamed. [7]
• Medicines: the EU monograph says no interactions have been reported. [4] That is not proof there are none; no source we read tested wormwood with seizure medicines or other drugs. Ask a pharmacist. See herbal tea medicine interactions.
• Absinthe is a different question. A 2006 review found concentrated wormwood oil, not absinthe, reliably caused seizures, and that its main hazard is alcohol. It also warned about absinthe essences sold online. [6]
• Surgery, iron, very hot drinks, metals and pesticides: not described in the sources we read. Not described is not proof of none.
• Emergency: call a poison center (US: 1-800-222-1222) or your local emergency number. See poisoning: what to do first.

Tea, capsule or extract?

The essential oil is the most concentrated form and is the one linked to the most serious poisoning reports. [3][6] The Crohn's studies used a blend and a powder, not tea. [12][13] See tea vs tincture vs capsule and the wormwood herb page.

Buying and storing

We do not recommend buying wormwood tea for everyday use. If you see wormwood or "absinthium" in a blend, check the label for the Latin name (see reading an herbal tea or tincture label), and do not confuse it with sweet wormwood. Keep any wormwood product away from children.

Related pages

• Wormwood (herb page)
• Pennyroyal tea dangers
• Sage tea
• Liver and kidney cautions
• Herbal tea safety quick reference: emergency and who to call
• Toxic herbs and plant poisoning