Essential Oils & Gynecomastia - Are You Putting Your Child At Risk?

By Lisa Barger

If you're a parent who uses soaps, shampoos and other toiletries scented with essential oils on your children, you could be putting your pre-teen boys at risk for a rare medical condition known as gynecomastia. Characterized most obviously by enlargement of the breasts, gynecomastia is usually due to a temporary hormonal disruption. In these cases however, the hormonal disruption was brought on artifically by a chemical in the oils which mimics the effects of estrogen in the body.

In a study published in the February 2007 issue of the New England Journal of Medicine researchers studied three boys aged 4, 7 and 10 who were brought to their doctors' offices with what doctors described as "overdeveloped" breasts. Researchers eventually tied the boys' conditions to the use of essential oils and various toiletry products scented with them. A series of laboratory tests confirmed their suspicions.

The good news is that the boys recovered completely and doctors expect them to experience no lasting physical effects. But researchers also caution parents to use care when exposing their children to these concentrated volatile compounds. In an interview, Dr. Clifford Branch, a hormone specialist who treated all three boys, said, "I would not give these products my children."

This study looked mainly at lavender and tea tree essential oils but other volatile plant extracts also contain chemicals capable of disrupting hormone levels. No one is yet calling for a ban on essential oils but if you frequently bathe your children with soaps, shampoos or body washes containing these botanical extracts, consider alternative products.

Can diffusing essential oils into the air, a practice common in aromatherapy, create similar problems? We simply don't know. But cases like these underscore one of the fundamental ideas in botanical medicine: "Natural" doesn't always mean "safe".

Lisa Barger is a traditional naturopath specializing in natural health education. To learn more about Ms. Barger's belief in "Empowerment through Education" or to take a free online natural health class see her website, http://www.LisaBarger.com

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