Are Lavender and Tea Tree Essential Oils Dangerous?

I saw this article in the newspaper - The National Post which is one of Canada's few generally respectable newspapers.

http://nationalpost.com/health/health-an...ow-breasts

Has anybody ever heard about this before?

I saw this article in the newspaper - The National Post which is one of Canada's few generally respectable newspapers.

http://nationalpost.com/health/health-an...ow-breasts

Has anybody ever heard about this before?

I think I remember reading about that case years back. I can't say much either way without saying that I can't give much evidence. I do think that "essential oils" and the fact that they are natural can sometimes turn people off to finding out more information. The point is that natural oils I think will be effective in most cases at a certain dosage. It probably isn't smart to assume that since something is natural or naturally derived that it is automatically safe in every case at every dose. Although I own essential oils of various citrus fruits, I use caution with what will be on my skin when I will be exposed to sun and am very wary of the suggested practice of drinking water with essential oils.

It should also be said that "essential oil" is a very loose term and that some people cannot make the distinctions between different concentrations of naturally derived constituents.

Certain essential oils scents can be harmful to dogs per some studies. In addition, the scents from any product must play havoc with the keen sense of smell for dogs.

For us humans, I would assume some OTC essential oils could be harmful to some people. Everyone is different. The study talked about young boys and topical application (I am not going to comment on the logic of the topical application of certain essential oils to young boys).

For us shavers, certain soaps (ingredients) can cause a rash, etc. I would assume some ingredients may have even caused a serious rash or other side effect. We keep shaving with different soaps or creams.

I like aromatherapy or the use of scents for certain applications including relaxation, anxiety, different moods, etc. Ironically, I do not like Lavender and some oils have had negative effects. I do like my bourbon scented candle and several essential oils blends.

Thanks zaclikestoshave and Standard for your interesting responses. There is no doubt that the potency and often toxicity of so called "natural" substances can often be ignored. There is a definite market bias towards "natural" meaning "safe" and that ignores the clear evidence that many naturally occurring substances can be toxic to the point of being lethal depending on dose and concentration. Uranium is a natural element. I found it interesting that these two young boys in the story I referenced were being regularly exposed to what I assume had to be significant amounts of the essential oils of lavender and tea tree oil - I'm guessing the parents must have been into aromatherapy or holistic therapy in a big way and were applying the oils daily.

I come to this late, but I'm here. This is the first I've heard of this, but I don't find it surprising at all. Plant based extracts can be extremely powerful substances. I'm not familiar with lavender, but I have used tea tree oil as an adult for the suggested uses in the article and it had the desired effect. Many phytochemicals can actually outperform big pharmas offerings. Not too long ago I had severe and chronic pain. I'm using a tea made from wild lettuce and for the past 3 (?) weeks I've been pain free. Big pharmas pain killers are quite dangerous, potentially addictive, and with major side effects. The active ingredients in the tea have no side effects that I have noticed. Then there is saw palmetto which works great for an enlarged prostate. Kratom is another herb that works for many things and for myself, works just as good as wild lettuce as a pain reliever. But wild lettuce grows wild everywhere in north America and kratom doesn't. Cascara sagrada is an excellent remedy for constipation and is sometimes given to the residents of retirement homes as an everyday "mover". I could go on and on.

It's like anything, one needs knowledge before entering into the use of a substance. Yes, just because something is natural does NOT mean safe. The internet is a great source of knowledge about the use of herbs and extracts/oils for the use in home based medicine.

Many plants have led big pharma to cures for various things. Foxglove is poisonous (and natural) but the poison in it led to the discovery of digitalis. The list of phytochemicals that have led to the production of Rx is endless. Clover seed was or is the source of warfarin, a rat poison and also used today in a very dilute form as a blood thinner. Morphine comes from the opium poppy. With the legalization of medical marijuana we're finding that it can be used to alleviate many medical conditions. Again, the list is endless.

So no it comes as no surprise to me.

Any essential or natural oil can cause reactions in many ways. Same goes with synthetic or man made ingredients. As a personal care product developer/manufacturer there are some ingredients both natural and synthetic that are higher on the allergic scale than others and the same goes for fragrances as well. Lavender is very low on the scale and has been proven to have both calming and healing properties but again anyone can have a reaction to it. Tea Tree is much higher on the scale. Aloe is another that is very low. It's kind of a mute point as I said any one person can have various reactions to any one ingredient be it natural or man made.