Although Amica Montana's main pharmacologically active constituent (helenalin) is safe and beneficial (as an anti-inflammatory and analgesic) in the very small quantities used in herbal medicine, it is extremely toxic and almost always fatal in larger doses.
Many of the plants trace-alkaloids are more toxic than helenalin by one or more orders of magnitude, acting as potent hepatotoxins, cytotoxins, mutagens, teratogens, and neurotoxic central nervous system stimulants.