Using Lavender Essential Oil Around Children: Sorting Out the Research

Is lavender essential oil safe for young children? What should we make of studies that link it to prepubertal gynecomastia (breast development in boys) and early breast development in girls — and research that finds no such connection at all?

Since I see value in essential oil use for calming anxiety, lifting mood, and supporting mental health, I wanted to better understand these findings so I could make informed, responsible recommendations. So I dove in to sort it out. 

My bottom-line conclusion: Some is OK and has benefits. But be careful about how much exposure vulnerable people, such as children, get. 

Now I'll walk you through how I got to my conclusion so you can decide for yourself. 

Background 

Lavender oil is on the safe-for-children list put out by the International Federation of Professional Aromatherapists (IFPA), but research by the US National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS) raised concerns when they found heavy essential oil use in young boys and girls who had developed breast tissue.  

Journal articles reporting the NIEHS findings were countered by letters to the editor criticizing their work and research by others who concluded that the connection was not warranted. 

Reality: Two things can be true -- lavender essential oil can be safe for children when it is used occasionally, and it can cause problems in some children when it is used a lot. 

Research Showing Lavender Hormone Disruption in Children

The First NIEHS Study

Henley et al. (20007) published Prepubertal gynecomastia linked to lavender and tea tree oils in the New England Journal of Medicine. They were looking to discover why three boys had developed breast buds even though many known possible causes had been ruled out. 

• Patient 1: A 4-year-old boy whose mother "reported applying a compounded 'healing balm' containing lavender oil to his skin starting shortly before the initial presentation." 
• Patient 2: A 10-year-old boy who had been "applying a styling gel to his hair and scalp every morning and regularly using a shampoo. The labels of both the gel and the shampoo listed Lavandula angustifolia (lavender) oil and Melaleuca alternifolia (tea tree) oil as ingredients." 
• Patient 3: A 7-year-old boy who used "lavender-scented soap and intermittent use of lavender-scented commercial skin lotions." His fraternal twin used the same skin lotions but not the lavender-scented soap, and did not have any gynecomastia.

In all the cases, the symptoms resolved slowly once exposure to the oils was discontinued.

The Second NIEHS Study

Ramsey et al. (2019) published Lavender products associated with premature thelarche and prepubertal gynecomastia: case reports and endocrine-disrupting chemical activities in The Journal of Clinical Endocrinology and Metabolism. These case studies included three girls with premature thelarche (early breast development) and a boy with breast enlargement. 

• Patient 4: A 7-year-old girl who began developing breasts at age 6.  She had "frequent exposure to lavender oil in the form of a cologne" since early childhood. 
• Patient 5: A 4-year-old girl who had begun developing breasts several years earlier. She had been bathed with soap containing lavender oil since infancy. 
• Patient 6: A 7-year-old girl who "sat near a teacher’s table, which had a lavender-oil diffuser running all day and was exposed to lavender oil for 1 year before noticing breast development." 
• Patient 7: An 8-year-old boy who had breast enlargement for several years. He had been exposed to daily lavender oil in a cologne since he was an infant. 

In all the cases, symptoms resolved gradually after exposure was discontinued, supporting, though not proving, a possible exposure-related effect.

Taken together, these cases do not point to a single product or misuse scenario. Instead, they highlight how cumulative exposure can occur through everyday items — soaps, hair products, colognes, lotions, and even ambient diffusion — especially when used daily or continuously over long periods.

BTW: Continuous diffusion of any essential oil is not recommended. An intermittent schedule is recommended. For more diffusion do's and don'ts check out this post, 🟢➜ Aromatherapy Essential Oil Safety Tips: What You Need to Know

Counter Arguments

A 2020 letter to the editor of The Journal of Clinical Endocrinology and Metabolism criticized some of the methods used by Ramsey and his colleagues. The letter was written by the Coordinator and Project Manager of the Consortium Huiles Essentielles, which represents 11 French essential oil companies.

Ramsey et al. responded to that letter to the editor defending their research methods by making what appear to me to be convincing points.

The letter to the editor and rebuttal are each quite short. I've provided the links if you want to review them and make your own assessment about the validity of the arguments. 

Research Showing No Hormone Disruption

A 2022 article by Hawkins et al., Prevalence of endocrine disorders among children exposed to lavender essential oil and tea tree essential oils, appeared in the International Journal of Pediatrics and Adolescent Medicine. 

Their conclusion:

"Children who were regularly exposed to lavender or tea tree essential oils experienced the same risk of endocrine disorders as those who were not exposed."

Here are some of the study details: 

• A total of 556 children were included
• The children were from 2–15 years old
• "Exposure was operationalized as weekly or more frequent contact with a lavender or tea tree essential oil-containing product for a period of four or more months."

While this study is often cited as undermining the NIEHS findings, the definition of “regular exposure” used by Hawkins does not appear comparable to the intensity or duration of exposure described in the NIEHS case reports. Weekly use — even over several months — represents intermittent exposure rather than the daily or continuous exposure seen in the NIEHS cases.

Also noteworthy: Hawkins includes cases where tea tree oil is used in the absence of lavender oil. All the NIEHS children were using lavender oil. One of them was also using tea tree oil, but none were using tea tree oil alone. 

Case Studies versus Population Studies

Case studies, such as those by NIEHS, have value, and population studies, such as those by Hawkins, have value. They don’t necessarily cancel each other out. Instead, they answer different questions and highlight different kinds of risk.

Lavender Oil is Approved for Children

Lavandula angustifolia, the Lavender species used for its calming properties, is on the International Federation of Professional Aromatherapists (IFPA) list of essential oils suitable for children under 2 years of age. 

Inclusion on child-appropriate lists reflects how these oils are generally intended to be used. It does not rule out the possibility of problems when exposure becomes frequent, prolonged, or continuous.

What Are the Take-Aways?

There are valuable lessons here:

• Even natural remedies can pose risks when overused.
• People are individuals and have individual sensitivities.
• When you're evaluating research, the details matter.

As is true for most things in life, just because some may be good, more might not be better, and there is probably a too-much level. 

Essential oils are highly concentrated substances. Avoiding extended daily use, continuous diffusion, or chronic skin application — especially in children — can help ensure that aromatherapy remains a supportive wellness tool rather than an unintended source of risk.

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