Down Under Enterprises grows, produces, exports, and markets traceable
and sustainable native Australian essential oils and botanicals grown on our farm, Buhlambar, and from small growers across Australia producing unique essential oils and botanicals from plants native to Australia.

THE UPDATE

from

DOWN UNDER

 

Keep up-to-date with our latest news, tips, product updates, special offers, and more.

 

November 2021

G’day mate,

Since initial publication in 2007, an in-vitro and anecdotal case report of Tea Tree Oil and Lavender Oil potentially causing endocrine disruption in children has worried clinicians and parents alike. In this Newsletter we are pleased to report the recent results of a large, prospective epidemiological study conducted in the USA. This study of over 550 children conclusively rules out any such link whatsoever, giving great comfort to countless parents, clinicians, and manufacturers of Tea Tree Oil-containing products.

I would also like to thank our amazing customers for their loyalty. With a 73+% retention rate year-over-year we must be doing something right. In a new video, our founder, Dee-Ann, highlights some of the reasons for these great customer relationships.

Also in this month’s edition:

Thanks for reading.

signature Phil MAR2020

Phil Prather

FEATURED PRODUCT

Australian Tea Tree Oil – Safe, Pure, In-Stock

Hand Wash-2

MINTEL reports Australian Tea Tree Oil has consistently been amongst the Top 2 Essential Oils used in new product launches globally over the last 5 years.

Globally, consumers consistently turn to Australian Tea Tree Oil for its recognized antibacterial, antifungal, antiviral, and/or anti-inflammatory properties. Recent COVID-related product innovation with Australian Tea Tree Oil has focused on antimicrobial Hand Care and Maskne applications. A recent review in US by the CIR Expert Panel has found Tea Tree Oil “safe as used” – read the REPORT HERE.

Tea Tree Oil from our farms in Australia fully conforms with the ISO4730:2017 standard, is 100% free of any herbicide/pesticide residue, and is produced to the ATTIA Code of Practice (COP) quality standard. Australian Tea Tree Oil is the only essential oil in the world with its own, independently audited, quality control system.

Down Under manages and provides “farm to facility” traceability of our Tea Tree Oil – every batch of our oil can be traced to an individual area of our farms. When you work with Down Under Enterprises, you get guarantees of quality, traceability, and supply.

Learn more: Tea Tree Oil Detailed Product Page

BENEFIT 1 – “Safe” US Cosmetic Ingredient Review, 2021
BENEFIT 2
– Does not cause endocrine disruption – now proven
BENEFIT 3
– “Non-sensitizing” in standard formulations (CIRS)
BENEFIT 4
– Strong consumer recognition as effective
BENEFIT 5
– Quality Audited to ATTIA Code of Practice

SCIENTIFIC PAPER

"Prevalence of endocrine disorders among children exposed to Lavender Essential Oil and Tea Tree Essential Oils"

TTO Paper

New research by Hawkins et al published in the International Journal of Pediatrics and Adolescent Medicine, October 2021, investigated the purported link between the essential oils Lavender and Tee Tree and endocrine disruption in children, specifically prepubertal gynecomastia.

The cross-sectional, prospective study was designed to identify the lifetime prevalence of endocrine disruption, including but not limited to prepubertal gynecomastia and precocious puberty, among children who are exposed to Lavender and Tea Tree essential oils, compared with the prevalence in the general population.

A study cohort of 556 children, aged 2 to 15 years old was enrolled, powering the study’s statistical analysis above a 95% confidence interval of 2%.

In 556 children with a mean age of 6.33 (SD = 3.92), prevalence of endocrine disruption was .016 (SD = 0.13). No cases of prepubertal gynecomastia were identified in either group, and prevalence of precocious puberty, delayed puberty, growth hormone deficiency, and hypothyroidism were all consistent with population norms. Total risk of endocrine disorders among those exposed (0.0194) did not differ from the risk of those unexposed (0.0069). The risk ratio was 2.796 (95% CI: 0.352, 22.163, P = .458).

The researchers concluded that 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.

IN THE NEWS

Confirmed: Tea Tree Oil Does Not Cause Pre-Pubertal Breast Development

shutterstock_1676180773

For over a decade, parents and clinicians have been told that Lavender Oil and Tea Tree Oil may cause pre-pubertal gynecomastia and other hormonal disorders in children, despite a lack of rigorous evidence to support this claim.

The results of a new study by Hawkins et al from the Franklin Health Research Centre (USA) conclusively rules out Tea Tree Oil and Lavender Oil as endocrine disrupters.

Previous studies by Henley & Korach (2007), Diaz (2016), and Ramsey & Korach (2018) purported a causal link between Tea Tree Oil, Lavender Oil and endocrine disruption in children. Those studies – in vitro and limited case studies – were refuted by many other scientists and clinicians. The main concerns related to limited data, potential contamination of experimentation methods (false positives), or using products which did not contain either essential oil. However, without solid epidemiological evidence to refute the claims, the sensationalist headlines remained and were widely publicized.

Solid epidemiological evidence has now been published. The results are clear – neither Tea Tree Oil nor Lavender Oil have any endocrine disruptive effect on children. The paper, titled “Prevalence of Endocrine Disorders Among Children Exposed to Lavender Essential Oil and Tea Tree Essential Oils” has unequivocally confirmed that no such association with these Essential Oils exists. Here’s a link to this OPEN ACCESS paper.

The authors stated:

"This study provides evidence that lavender essential oil and tea tree essential oil are safe ingredients in formulations for personal care products used on children.”

The authors concluded:

“The proposed links between these ingredients and endocrine disruption cannot be substantiated in epidemiological studies."

Prior to publishing this landmark paper, Hawkins et al conducted a systematic review of all published papers of clinical studies on the topic and found there was no relationship between these Essential Oils and Endocrine Disruption. In fact, the authors noted extensive bias in a number of papers attempting to draw clinical associations. The results of this systematic review were published in 2020 in the journal Complementary Therapies in Medicine. Here’s a link to this OPEN ACCESS paper. We also discuss this paper in more detail in the below SCIENTIFIC PAPER section of this newsletter.

Recognition of this potential clinician observer bias lead Hawkins et al to develop an objective questioning tool, APICHS, the validation of which they published early in 2021in the Journal of Environmental Public Health, in a paper titled “Recall and Interviewer Bias in Parental Report of Pediatric Exposure to Aromatic Plant Ingredients in Personal Care Products: Development and Validation of a More Accurate Approach”. Here’s a link to this OPEN ACCESS paper.
There is no increased risk versus the background US population of children (2 – 15 years old). Product manufacturers, parents, and clinicians alike should now feel very comfortable in the use of personal care products containing Australian Tea Tree Oil for children.

LEARN MORE at the Australian Tea Tree Industry Association (ATTIA) website.

FARM UPDATES

FARM UPDATES

Spring growth setting up for a big 2022 harvest 

24 Nov 2021
 

The Spring growth on our Tea Tree farm has come up quickly this year.

And with a wet La Nina season underway, our farm is looking very good for a bumper harvest in mid-2022. In the meantime, we still have some stock of our 2021 harvest available in both our Cleveland, Ohio warehouse and our farm warehouse in Australia.

Talk to us about your requirements for Pure Australian Tea Tree Oil.

 
TRACEABILITY

TRACEABILITY

Tamper-evident seals for our certified Tea Tree OilAlum flasks with DUE cap-1-1

The Australian Tea Tree Industry Association (ATTIA Ltd) is an Australian-based not-for-profit organization formed in 1986 as the peak body for the Australian tea tree industry. ATTIA’s aim is to develop a stable, cohesive, environmentally friendly, and internationally competitive TTO industry producing quality assured 100% pure Australian TTO that meets or exceeds international standards.

ATTIA’s Code of Practice (COP) quality system controls how member-producers can store bulk quantities of Pure Australian Tea Tree Oil. Only approved containers, tested by ATTIA to a minimum 3-year shelf life and do not have any deleterious effect on the oil, may be used.

Each container must be tightly sealed and secured with a COP tamper-evident seal (drums and IBCs), impeding the risk of product adulteration from occurring along the supply chain.
Our products (Tea Tree Oil or our other products) will ONLY have either an ATTIA tamper-evident seal or a seal with the Down Under Enterprises logo.


To learn more read our blog Storage and Stability of Tea Tree Oil

 
SUSTAINABILITY

SUSTAINABILITY

Upcycled Ingredients trend here to stay

shutterstock_1542132158 hydrosol

A sustainability trend that appears to be here to stay is the use of upcycled ingredients in personal care formulations says MINTEL data. In recent years, brands have increased the sustainability profile of their products through eco-friendly packaging. As brands now look to hit zero-waste ingredient targets, the upcycled ingredient movement can help them do just that.

Tea Tree Hydrosol [INCI: Melaleuca Alternifolia (Tea Tree) Leaf Water] is a great example of an upcycled ingredient that can help formulators hit zero-waste targets. Hydrosol is a water by-product of the essential oil distillation process, which would otherwise be discarded. The hydrosol is a softer version of the essential oil, retaining many of the therapeutic properties. It provides an upcycled ingredient that can also replace the water component of a formulation – for those seeking to reduce their water footprint.

Tea Tree hydrosol as a standalone product can be used topically as a facial mist or toner to fight acne, to clean cuts, scrapes, wounds of all kinds and as a fungal nail treatment. Tea Tree hydrosol is also used orally in various ways such as a gargle or mouthwash for sore throat, coughs, and gingivitis.

Read more about Tea Tree Hydrosol in the Products section of our website.

EMPLOYEE PROFILE

EMPLOYEE PROFILE

Hear from our founder Dee-Ann!

Dee-Ann founded Down Under Enterprises over 20 years ago to supply Australian Tea Tree Oil from her family’s farms directly to North American manufacturers.

Today our customers are some of the largest brands in the world (35 of HAPPI Top 50 Home and Personal Care companies), as well as the leading natural products companies globally.

Watch the video to hear more from Dee-Ann about why it’s so easy for these companies to work with Down Under Enterprises.