Lavender and tea tree oil

On April 02, 2008 in General

There’s been some talk recently that Lavender and tea tree oils can simulate the effects of oestrogen, thereby causing possible breast enlargement in boys.

The link between lavender and tea tree oil

ABC Health & Wellbeing reported the following on the link between lavender and tea tree oil:-

It’s normal for boys going through puberty to get some breast enlargement, even though it can worry parents especially if the breasts are tender.

What’s not normal is when a boy gets breast enlargement before puberty. Sometimes there’s an abnormality in the way hormones are being metabolized but usually, despite lots of tests, nothing turns up. What’s often suspected but rarely found is something in the child’s environment which is imitating the female hormone oestrogen - or indeed they’ve got hold of their mum’s contraceptive pills.

A series of three cases of young boys with breast enlargement found a common factor. They were using products which contained lavender or tea tree oil such as balm, skin lotion, styling gel, shampoo and lavender scented soap. And the boys’ breasts went back to normal size when these things were stopped.

The researchers then did laboratory tests on cell cultures and found that both lavender and tea tree oils can simulate the effects of oestrogen and block male hormones. Therefore they concluded that the oils were probably the cause in these children and that people should be aware of this possibility.

Lavender and tea tree oil – can it cause breast enlargement in boys?

Virtual Medical Centre.com has published the following article on the link between tea tree oil and lavender products causing enlarged breasts in boys:-

Researchers at the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS), part of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), confirmed in laboratory studies what a pediatric endocrinologist at the University of Colorado at Denver and Health Science Center’s School of Medicine suspected after diagnosing three of his young male patients with prepubertal gynaecomastia. The researchers found an association between the use of products containing these oils and the rare disorder, but cautioned more research is needed. At this point, the findings are only applicable to young males with unexplainable enlarged breasts who are regularly using products containing these essential oils.

Virtual Medical Centre.com has the following quote from the author of the study with his advice to doctors about the link between lavender and tea tree oil causing breast enlargement:-

“We want to encourage doctors who may be seeing patients with gynaecomastia to ask their patients about the products they are using. Patients with prepubertal gynaecomastia may want to consider reducing the use of products that contain these oils,” said Ken Korach, Ph.D., chief, Laboratory Reproductive and Developmental Toxicology at NIEHS and author on the study. “Although we found an association between exposure to these essential oils and gynaecomastia, further research is needed to determine the prevalence of prepubertal gynaecomastia in boys using products containing lavender and tea tree oils. Results of such epidemiological studies are important to tell us how strong the association is between topical application of the oils and prepubertal gynaecomastia”

The three otherwise healthy Caucasian boys, ages four, seven and 10 years, had normal hormonal levels when they were diagnosed with gynaecomastia by Clifford Bloch, M.D., in Colorado. All had either used lavender-scented soap and skin lotions, or shampoos or styling products that contained tea tree oil and lavender oil as ingredients. In each case, several months after the suspected products were discontinued, the gynaecomastia had subsided or resolved.

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