Toxin Free (ish)

The Lavender Essential Oil Controversy: Debunking the Hormone Disruption Myth ✨ Ep. 100

• Wendy Kathryn • Episode 100

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That viral post about lavender essential oil causing hormone disruption is based on a 15-year-old myth that's been thoroughly debunked.

As a former environmental toxins attorney, I've watched this rumor circulate for years, causing unnecessary fear among parents and wellness enthusiasts.

The truth is, the original 2007 case report that started it all was based on just three children using products that likely didn't even contain much real lavender essential oil - they contained synthetic fragrances and known hormone disruptors.

A comprehensive 2022 study of 556 children proved what aromatherapists have known all along: pure lavender and tea tree essential oils pose no endocrine disruption risks. The real concern isn't with authentic essential oils - it's with synthetic fragrances and adulterants that often masquerade as "lavender" in personal care products.

In this episode, I break down the science, share the actual research, and explain why you can confidently use pure lavender essential oil as part of your wellness routine. You'll learn how to identify quality oils, understand the difference between synthetic fragrances and pure essential oils, and make informed decisions about your family's health.

I turned the shownotes in to a super shareable blog post.

In today's episode, we're chatting about:
• The truth behind the 2007 case report that started the hormone disruption rumor 
• Why synthetic fragrances are the real endocrine disruptors to avoid 
• How to identify pure lavender essential oil versus synthetic imposters 
• The gold-standard research proving lavender's safety 


If you enjoyed this week's episode, please:

Speaker 1:

We need to have a conversation about the false rumor that comes circulating every few years or so, and that is the rumor that lavender and tea tree essential oils are hormone disruptors. This is officially the 100th episode of the Talks and Preach podcast and it felt like the perfect time to record an episode addressing this issue in its entirety. Now, I've touched on this issue in previous episodes, but you asked for a dedicated episode that was short and sweet and it was easily shareable, so that is exactly what you're going to get today, as always. I'm your host, wendy, a former environmental toxins attorney turned clean living lobbyist and advocate, and it's time to tackle this rumor head on. Recently you guys you've sent me so many. My inbox is just absolutely flooded.

Speaker 1:

There was a influencer that went viral on a reel where she was reading from an old case report that lavender and tea tree were causing gynecomastia, which is enlarged breast tissue in little boys, and basically she was saying lavender and tea tree essential oils are endocrine disruptors and everybody needs to avoid them and the holistic community is lying to you and it's this whole thing, and that that reel went viral and then you all sent it to me and then I went on to this person's reel and responded and things got a little heated, and so maybe you've heard this rumor circulating, maybe you were one of the people who sent me this reel, or maybe your pediatrician told you this rumor and we're going to talk about that in this episode. But I just want to clear the air up front that lavender and tea tree essential oils are not, not N-O-T, not hormone disruptors. There is no evidence of that whatsoever. This has been debunked by large gold standard and I never say this word right epidemiological studies. Oh, I think I got that right. So if it's been debunked, why is it still circulating? And you know, every couple of years this makes the round again, and the next time you hear this rumor I want you to be armed with accurate information. So by the end of this episode you're going to understand where the rumor even started to begin with, why we know it's bogus and what the real endocrine disruptors are. I'm going to quickly and simply walk you through the timeline of the science, each piece. I'm going to explain it to you. I'm going to link in the show notes every single piece of science that I am going to walk you through, so you can have the peace of mind that lavender and tea tree are not hormone disruptors. But you're also going to have this shareable episode and the shareable show notes that you can give to somebody the next time that they send you a reel or they tell you this. You know they basically promote this rumor, so let's dive in.

Speaker 1:

So this all started in 2007. And I can't believe it's already been that long that we've been talking about this. But basically in 2007, there were three case reports that were published and people like to say this was a study. It wasn't a study. It was case reports. There were three young, healthy boys that were South American and they were using topical products that contained lavender and tea tree essential oils. Now, you guys have been listening to me for a very long time and hopefully, a red flag just went up when I said that. So we're talking shampoo, lotions, things like that, that were scented with lavender and tea tree essential oils and basically these case reports said these three boys were all using products that contained these things and that these three boys had gynecomastia, which is basically enlarged breast tissue in the young boys, and that once the families removed those products, so they no longer used these products that were said to be scented with these things, that within four to nine months of discontinuing those products, that the condition resolved itself. So the conclusion was well, lavender and tea tree essential oils could potentially be causing gynecomastia, and I think there's some obvious problems with this. Gynecomastia is typically idiopathic, which means they don't know typically what causes it. There's environmental considerations, there's genetic considerations.

Speaker 1:

These boys were all Latin, south American. What did they eat? Two of the boys in the study drank soy milk regularly for years. What was their immune function? Were there any other environmental contaminations cosmetics, personal care products, pesticides? What kind of water were they drinking? When you're looking at three people for a case study, it is really difficult to say, oh, this one thing is causing it, but let's just say that that product was causing it.

Speaker 1:

My initial reaction is well, what was that product actually scented with? What were the other ingredients in those personal care products? Were there parabens? Were there phthalates? Were there other things that are known, well-researched, well-published endocrine disruptors? Why would you jump to the conclusion that it would be the lavender essential oils? Right, you would want to look at everything in it. Another interesting thing about that is that two of the boys were there was fraternal twins. One of the boys was in the study and both of the fraternal twins used this lavender containing soap and only one of the twins developed the gynecomastia. So again, taking into consideration, you know, what else could be causing it.

Speaker 1:

Component of this case report that was published was they did an in vitro study to determine whether or not lavender and tea tree essential oils had estrogenic properties and they concluded that it was quote unquote weak. Now there was another piece of this case report where they said they did in vitro studies taking a look at whether or not lavender and tea tree essential oils had estrogenic activity and determined that it was weak. They found weak estrogenic activity and they published that. And in this case report they say, based on this weak connection of in vitro studies and the fact that all three of these children were using these products, that it makes sense to say that these topical application of over-the-counter products containing lavender and tea tree was the cause of the gynecomastia in these three patients, which is a wild conclusion.

Speaker 1:

And let me just say that this is. I mean I wish that this didn't happen. But just because something is published in a journal doesn't make it true, doesn't mean that it's not riddled with problems and it doesn't mean it's accurate. And so I think that's a hard pill to swallow for a lot of people, because you assume that something that's put in an actual reputable medical journal, that there's rigor and someone's watching. But that statement alone I read and was like oof, red flag, like what is this person's underlying interest that they're trying to get to?

Speaker 1:

And so, really soon after this 2007 case report was published, the Endocrine Society just went with it. They published it, they did this whole panel on it. They told pediatricians keep this away from children. It became this whole thing again, based on three kids using products that we don't even know what's in it, and it's honestly like the leap and the conclusion is absolutely crazy to me and as somebody who educates on real endocrine disruption, like filtering your drinking water, making sure you don't have phthalates in your products, making sure you're avoiding parabens, making these things that we know do cause serious endocrraption and fertility, all these issues and this whole thing is like oh no, essential oils. So where do we go from there? So that was 2007. So between 2007 and 2018, there were more of these in vitro studies done to try to determine. You know, based on this 2007 case study and basically accusations that were being made do lavender and tea tree have this estrogenic activity? And it all was like no it's. Every single study that was done showed either very, very weak estrogenic activity or none. And so you know that was over the next 11 years and I will put a link to those studies in the show notes so you can see them.

Speaker 1:

So here comes 2019 and another case report, this time three girls who were pre-puberty and a boy, and they were experiencing again. These are South Latin, south American children and genetics is important. Sometimes that can be a predisposition. They were experiencing enlargement of breast tissue, also after being exposed to lavender fragranced products. So this one was only lavender, it wasn't a tea tree conversation. And after these kids removed the product they were using, within six months after discontinuing the products, it went away. But in fact, two of the girls that were in that study still experienced early puberty even after removing the use of those products, and what was published was very similar to the case reports that were published in 2007. So multiple scientists wrote rebuttal letters and if you don't know anything about how medical journals work, once you publish something, it's kind of like a letter to the editor in newspapers. You can write scientific rebuttals that are then published in these journals that you can go read, and so multiple rebuttal letters were written in 2020.

Speaker 1:

So the year after that 2019 case report was published and basically what they said was researchers said that they tested the lavender products the actual products that were being used by these kids through a CGMS composition essay and found that the products did not contain lavender essential oil at all. They were fragranced with synthetic compounds, which I am sure you are not surprised by this, because I think I hope that the whole time I've been talking, you knew this. Where this was all leading right? They found multiple endocrine disruptors azodis, which are very toxic, and diethylphthalate. Diethylphthalate is a known endocrine disruptor. Diethyl phthalate is a known endocrine disruptor. The baby oil that was being used had trace amounts of actual lavender essential oil in it, but it also had other contaminants. And again, when you are saying lavender products, the chances that that product is only using a pure lavender essential oil is questionable. And, aside from the fact that I knew, when I was reading these I was like I wonder what else is in those products that are actual endocrine disruptors. And now we know it's diethyl phthalate that was in there amongst a bunch of other things. But even if this bottle was just a bunch of clean products and, quote unquote, lavender essential oil.

Speaker 1:

Lavender is kind of like the olive oil of the aromatherapy world, and what I mean by that is so much more lavender essential oil is sold on the market than is made, just like olive oil, and that's why you see counterfeit olive oil being sold. It's being mixed with canola. Sometimes it's pure canola. There's so much fake olive oil on the market because more is sold and even exported out of Italy than is actually made. Lavender is probably the most adulterated essential oil on the market. I have been to lavender farms and I'm talking real lavender farms, the kind that are organic and regenerative, who do old school harvesting practices. They distill in pure water, so where you are making a real essential oil of lavender that I have been involved with, it takes 27 square feet of lavender plants to make one 15 milliliter bottle of lavender essential oil. So because of that, that's expensive, right? Getting real, pure lavender essential oil is expensive, and so a lot of it is being adulterated and it's being sold.

Speaker 1:

It's synthetic lavender. It can have fillers, it can have phthalates, it can have lillial in it, which is a reproductive toxin. It can have phthalates. It can have lillial in it, which is a reproductive toxin. It can have musk ambrite in it, which we know causes early puberty. If you want to know more about that, I've got another episode just on that that I'll link in the show notes as well put into these bottles and being sold as real lavender. And it's not real lavender. What you're buying is adulterated, cheap, fake, synthetic filled whatever lavender essential oil. You have to be really careful that you're buying actual, real lavender essential oil.

Speaker 1:

So where does that leave us now, a year later, thankfully, in the International Journal of Pediatrics and Adolescent Medicine, there was a real gold standard study published. This was a cross-sectional epidemiological study done on 556 children, and the whole reason why this study exists is because these study authors said hey, pediatricians are concerned about this, there seems to be a concern. Authors said, hey, pediatricians are concerned about this, there seems to be a concern, and we want to determine whether or not our children, who are regularly exposed to lavender and tea tree essential oils, at a higher risk for endocrine disorders, gynecomastia or anything like that and they actually point to in the study that a lot of parents have stopped using synthetic scented products because they've become educated on the endocrine disrupting properties and so more and more companies and brands that are cleaner and creating clean products are using essential oils. And the conclusion of the study and I'm just going to read it straight from the source children who were regularly exposed to lavender or tea tree essential oils experienced the same risk of endocrine disorders in general any endocrine disorder as those who were not exposed.

Speaker 1:

And just anecdotally because I live and breathe the world of holistic living and plant medicine and I love essential oils there are so many amazing medical studies out there on regulating the nervous system, on brain health, and I highly recommend if you do not already follow Holly Brandenberger, who is at the Science of Essentials on Instagram. She is a nurse and an aromatherapist and a clinical researcher in hospitals and she is the most phenomenal person to follow and learn about the amazing medicinal properties of pure essential oils. And that's the key here. You have to be really careful who you're buying your essential oils from and make sure they're not adulterated, they're not synthetic, they're not cheap, they're not fake and they don't contain other things that you can be concerned with. But if you're using real lavender, you're buying from companies that are sending their products with real lavender, then the risk does not exist. And it sucks because when you and I don't know if you're Googling and hanging out on WebMD and PubMed all the time, like I am, but I do a lot of research on endocrine disruption like a lot, I teach a lot about it and when I'm reading these really amazing complex studies that are being done on other endocrine disruptors, when you read the references and you read kind of the background of these studies, there's always a line in there that says and we also know that lavender and tea tree essential oils are endocrine disruptors.

Speaker 1:

And they cite to that 2007 study, not even a study Case report. They cite to it. It is permeated scientific journals everywhere, everywhere. It's like a rumor that just gets repeated and repeated and repeated. And when you look at that 2007 study that started all of this, common sense tells you that's wild. You just jumped to a massive conclusion. That's not really even good science. Why was that even published? So there you have it. That is how the rumor started.

Speaker 1:

I have linked to all of the scientific studies that I have mentioned in this episode. In the show notes it's got a chronological timeline that you can share. I hope you share. I hope you share this episode. Anytime anybody brings this up to you, please give it to them, and if you're a mom at home who's been concerned about this, I hope this gives you peace of mind. I am literally going to go slather myself in lavender essential oils right now, using a carrier oil and using them safely and diluting them appropriately. I'm going to go for a walk in nature and it's going to help me calm my brain, calm my nervous system and relax.

Speaker 1:

Thanks for listening. Thank you for celebrating the hundredth episode of Toxin Free-ish. I would not be here if it was not for you. I'll see you next week. Thank you so much for tuning into this episode of Toxin-Free-ish. If you enjoyed the show, don't forget to hit that follow button so you never miss an episode. Share it with a friend who could use a little toxin-free inspiration in their life. And if you have a moment, I'd love it if you could leave a quick review. It really helps spread the word and support the podcast. This show is a hundred percent funded by the generosity of my amazing listeners. Like you, in order to keep my content authentic and unbiased, I don't accept paid ads and instead I rely on affiliate links from brands. I genuinely believe it with missions that I support. Every single time you use an affiliate link and enjoy a discount, you are supporting those brands and you're supporting the podcast. Until next time, I hope your life is looking a lot more toxic.