with regards to essential oils and fgmo, there is an article in 
todays boston globe detailing evidence that some essential oils (or 
their components) act as hormones.  clearly, if this is the case, 
they are not the "soft" or "inert" substances we assume them to be.

deknow


http://www.boston.com/yourlife/health/diseases/articles/2007/01/31/oil
s_may_cause_breast_growth_in_boys?mode=PF

Oils may cause breast growth in boys
By Jeff Donn, Associated Press Writer  |  January 31, 2007

BOSTON --Lavender and tea tree oils found in some shampoos, soaps and 
lotions can temporarily leave boys with enlarged breasts in rare 
cases, apparently by disrupting their hormonal balance, a preliminary 
study suggests.

While advising parents to consider the possible risk, several hormone 
experts emphasized that the problem appears to happen infrequently 
and clears up when the oils are no longer used. None of those 
interviewed called for a ban on sales.

The study reported on the condition, gynecomastia, in three boys ages 
4, 7 and 10. They all went back to normal when they stopped using 
skin lotions, hair gel, shampoo or soap with the natural oils.

It's unclear how often this problem might crop up in other young 
children.

These plant oils, sometimes called "essential oils," are added to 
many health-care products, usually for their scent. The oils are 
sometimes found in other household products or sold in purer forms. 
Tea tree oil is sometimes used in shampoos for head lice.

The suspected effect in this study is blamed on some chemical within 
the oils that the body processes like estrogen, the female hormone 
that promotes breast growth.

The findings were being reported Thursday in the New England Journal 
of Medicine. The federally funded study came out of the University of 
Colorado and the environmental health branch of the National 
Institutes of Health. The findings were first released last year at a 
science meeting.

The three boys were brought to their doctors with overdeveloped 
breasts that looked like those of girls in early puberty. They were 
sore in one case. For each boy, doctors could tie the problem only to 
their use over several months of the natural-oil products.

The researchers suspected that the oils might be upsetting the boys' 
hormonal balance. So they did a series of laboratory tests to check 
how these oils work within human cells. The oils appeared to mimic 
estrogen and block the male hormone androgen.

On product labels, the oils sometimes are listed by their scientific 
names: Lavandula angustifolia (lavender oil) and Melaleuca 
alternifolia (tea tree oil). Such products do not require government 
approval to be sold unless they make specific health claims.

Marijuana and soy products also have been linked to gynecomastia.

Dr. Clifford Bloch, a hormone specialist in Greenwood Village, Colo., 
who treated the three boys, recommended that parents "be cautious" 
with such products, especially for prolonged use. "I would not give 
these products to my children," he said in an interview.

Bloch said he also suspects the oil played a role in a handful of 
young girls he saw for a similar condition, including a 17-month-old 
whose parents were washing her bottles with a lavender-scented soap.

Others sounded less worried. "It takes very little estrogen to cause 
gynecomastia in a young child," said Dr. Richard Auchus, a University 
of Texas Southwestern Medical Center hormone expert who knew of the 
study findings. "If they're getting it for a brief period of time, 
that really shouldn't cause long-term problems."

Also, the research did not pinpoint any specific estrogen-like 
compounds in the oils or look for them in a range of products. 
Chemist Steven Dentali, at the industry group American Herbal 
Products Association, said that warning people to avoid such oils "is 
premature without the additional basic research needed to bolster the 
case that the issue here is both real and significant."

Gynecomastia is very common in boys during the hormonal changes of 
puberty. But it also occurs as a rare condition in younger boys, men, 
and girls before puberty.

Bloch, the study doctor, said it's unknown if such oils could hurt 
women with estrogen-fed breast tumors.

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