Tea tree oil and lavender essential oil are often present in personal hygiene products for adults and children with a disinfectant, aromatic and relaxing action
He is about to end up run over, his mother saves himTea tree oil andessential oil of lavender they are often present in personal hygiene products for adults and children with a disinfectant, aromatic and relaxing action. It is possible that these natural alternatives to the more chemical ingredients found in creams, shower gels, shampoos, etc. are actually dangerous especially for children?
When we talk to you about essential oils we often specify that these substances I'm very concentrate and can cause allergy problems. Therefore, some attention must be paid in use, especially on children. It is no coincidence that most essential oils are not recommended for children, with the exception of tea tree oil and lavender as long as they are in small quantities and always diluted in creams or vegetable carrier oils (never pure).
Lavender oil and Tea tree oil are among the most commonly used essential oils, the first above all for its relaxing and calming qualities while the second for fight acne, fungus, gynecological problems or skin diseases.
Read also: TEA TREE OIL: THE THOUSAND USES, PROPERTIES AND WHERE TO FIND IT
Beyond the general recommendations that are always valid when using essential oils, there are scholars who have evaluated over the years the possibility that these essences can stimulate breast growth in children and young people who use them frequently. Some small studies suggest that continued use of lotions, shampoos, gels, lavender or tea tree oil colonies can cause breast growth in males, a phenomenon known as gynecomastia, and in girls already at the age of 4-5 years.
However, cases seem rare and the American FDA itself does not report essential oils present in small doses in hygiene products as potentially dangerous, unlike the use of these substances as drugs, for which there is instead a surveillance.
But let's see these studies specifically: in 2007 the pediatrician Clifford Bloch noted that 3 of his patients (4, 7 and 10 years old) they had developed abnormal breast growth. Speaking with his parents he noticed that everyone they used products based on lavender, tea tree oil or a combination of both essential oils. The pediatrician searched for sources that could have overloaded the children with estrogen hormones, likely responsible for that phenomenon. He thus came to connect the phenomenon to the use of these two essences which contain a small percentage of phytoestrogens, substances with an action similar to that of the female hormone estrogen.
Bloch's findings, published in the New England Journal of Medicine, prompted the National Institutes of Health to issue a warning regarding lavender and tea tree oils because potential endocrine disruptors in boys who use them regularly.
Later though another research seems to disprove the conclusions that Bloch came to. The Research Institute for Fragrance Materials Inc. did its own experimental study on animals not finding no link between lavender oil and tea tree oil and hormonal imbalances. In 2013, he again completed a second study which also found no confirmation of the potential risk of using these natural remedies.
Under accusation a few years ago, however, it ended again l'Agua de Violetas, a cologne based on lavender widely used in Latin America. According to the pediatrician Alejandro Diaz who published a study on the matter, have occurred cases of abnormal breast growth in two of his young female patients. Robert Tisserand, an aromatherapy expert and consultant in the sector, intervened on the question, who suggested that in that case it is rather the contaminants present in the oils that may have had an estrogenic effect in children.
“I think it's a real puzzle what really happened. There are tons of lavender and tea tree oils used in consumer products every year. We don't know how many are used for children, but what we are seeing is not an epidemic but a very limited number of cases”Said Tisserand.
Also Trevor Cates, a naturopathic doctor from Park City in Utha (USA), is convinced that they are many more factors to be evaluated in case of breast growth and precocious puberty:
"The amount of phytoestrogens in lavender and tea tree oil is too low to lead to these problems. The kids may have been exposed to other environmental toxins that caused the problem or they may have a genetic predisposition to this condition, ”says the doctor.
In fact it would have been interesting, in conjunction with the studies, to evaluate even if in the products based on essential oils used by children there was trace of pesticides or other chemicals.
It could also be in lavender and tea tree oils an "activating" factor given that in the cases reported by Bloch and also by Diaz, in the course of their studies and then in the following years, it was noted that once the offending products were removed, the phenomenon was reduced and then disappeared. However, it is they themselves who say that these are sporadic cases and that therefore i parents can safely continue to use essential oil products, paying attention if necessary to the appearance of the phenomenon and only in that case obviously to stop.
Lavender essential oil and tea tree oil are precious allies for our health. Our advice is to always use them in small doses and with all the necessary attention, especially when you intend to exploit its potential on children and young people. Better then choose organic formulations and with few ingredients (always read INCI) to avoid the presence of chemicals and contaminants.
