“Chemicals in lavender and tea tree oil appear to be hormone disruptors”

Presented at the endocrine.org conference March 2018

Once again we have inept research presented under the name of the same scientist who did the 2007 research: Prepubertal Gynecomastia Linked to Lavender and Tea Tree Oil. (published: New England Journal of Medicine 365 (5) pp 480-485 D. V. Henley, Ph. D., Natasha Lipson, M. D., Kenneth S. Korach, Ph. D. and Clifford A. Bloch, M. D. That research was packed with errors and widely discredited by people who knew what they were talking about.

This new (2018) research fails to mention that the chemicals they are claiming are “hormone disruptors” are all permitted food flavours under FDA and other regulatory authorities. Some of them such as d-limonene also occur in our natural daily foods. So why do they not mention that drinking orange juice includes the consumption of d-limonene or other research suggesting that this chemical has an anti cancer potential in the diet? (1)

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Details - purple text mine:

(AFA) = Individual chemicals and the whole oils that they occur in. Approved food additives by the FDA and other regulatory organisations around the world.

“Four of the tested chemicals appear in both oils”:

eucalyptol (AFA)

4-terpineol (AFA)

dipentene/limonene (AFA)

alpha-terpineol (AFA)

The others were in either oil:

linalyl acetate (AFA)

linalool (AFA)

alpha-terpinene (AFA)

gamma-terpinene (AFA).

“Using in vitro, or test tube, experiments, the researchers applied these chemicals to human cancer cells to measure changes of estrogen receptor- and androgen receptor-target genes and transcriptional activity”.

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The report fail to mention:

1. The essential oils containing these chemicals are all permitted food flavours.

2. The herbs bearing these essential oils are classified as safe in foods.

The report fails to mention that the volume of these chemicals likely to be absorbed into the circulation via the skin are minute compared to when ingested in food.

The report fails to give any references to the claim that “a growing amount of cases” are being seen”. What cases??

The report fails to provide any information on the chemicals used for testing, for example, were they lab grade which are known to contain manufacturing impurities or were they extracted from the essential oils concerned.

Lastly is the fact that most essential oils contain numerous natural chemicals. To assume that the action of the whole oil will be the same as a single chemical in it, is fundamentally flawed science.

1. http://personalcaretruth.com

Monoterpenes: Essence of a Cancer Cure. May 22, 2014 by Cindy L.A. Jones, Ph.D.

Martin Watt
 

www.aromamedical.org