More people are now using essential oils than ever before for treating ailments. Essential oils are also used for cleaning and washing products and for personal hygiene.
Essential oils are considered a safe option to chemicals present in products that we use in our household or personally.
As a result various commercial manufacturers are also incorporating essential oils in their products such as soaps, shampoos, hair-styling products and laundry detergents.
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The two most popular essential oils used in these products are lavender and tea tree oil.
But are these essential oils really safe?
A growing number of cases of male gynecomastia – which is rare before puberty – have coincided with topical exposure to lavender or tea tree oil.
Male gynecomastia is abnormal breast growth in young boys.
Reports indicate that the condition went away when the boys stopped using these oils.
Researchers at National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS) previously found evidence that lavender oil and tea tree oil have estrogen like (estrogenic) properties and testosterone-inhibiting (anti-androgenic) properties.
This means that these properties can either compete or hinder hormones that control male characteristics. This affects puberty and growth.
To test this effect further, researchers selected eight components out of hundreds of chemicals that comprise lavender and tea tree oil. The eight selected are common and mandated for inclusion in lavender and tea tree oil.
Four of the tested oils appear in both – eucalyptol, 4-terpineol, dipentene/limonene and alpha-terpineol.
The others were in either oil – linalyl acetate, linalool, alpha-terpinene and gamma-terpinene.
The researchers applied these chemicals to human cancer cells in vitro or in test tubes to measure changes of estrogen-receptor and androgen-receptor target genes and their transcriptional activity.
All eight chemicals showed varying estrogenic and/or anti-androgenic properties with some showing activities ranging from high to little activity to no activity.
The researchers noted that these changes were consistent with endogenous – hormonal conditions that stimulate gynecomastia in prepubescent boys.
The scientists believe that further investigations into lavender and tea tree oil are necessary as they are potential hazards to our health.
According to the researchers these chemicals are also found in at least 65 other essential oils which is alarming to know.
As essential oils are used broadly and are available without prescription, it’s important for us to know that essential oils have a diverse amount of chemicals and some of them can potentially interfere with hormones and their activity in our bodies.
Source: Endocrine Society
