Many people and companies are aware of cosmetic chemicals and how they can affect our health because of the work EWG has done. However, the database has gaps and inconsistencies; it seems as though EWG favors synthetic chemicals over natural ingredients in a number of cases.
Peppermint Essential Oil
Even though peppermint essential oil is widely used ingredient in cosmetics, toothpastes, and food products, and the FDA considers it Generally Regarded as Safe, EWG gives it a "4" risk score for being a potential skin irritant, allergen, and "penetration enhancer." Peppermint essential oil has many antioxidant, anticancer, antibacterial properties. (Source)(Source) It was found that the main antioxidant compounds in peppermint essential oil are the monoterpene ketones, menthone and isomenthone. (Source)
However, EWG would rather you use menthol, one of the main constituents of peppermint essential oil on its own, without the beneficial menthone and isomenthone. Menthol still carries the same skin irritation, allergic, and skin penetration effects, yet EWG ignores this information and gives it a score of only 1. Why the discrepancy? Menthol can be extracted from peppermint essential oil naturally, yet most sources of menthol are manufactured chemically. (Source)
Orange Essential Oil
Who doesn't love fresh orange essential oil? It's bright and invigorating and has well-known antioxidant and anti-cancer properties. (Source)(Source) But despite its powerful healing properties, EWG rates orange essential oil a 5 risk score for being a potential allergen/irritant.
Instead, EWG would rather you use a chemical used to make artificial orange flavor, octyl acetate, giving it a "1" risk score. Octyl acetate is a compound found in citrus fruits, but that is also synthetically produced. (Source)
[Strange note: Aura Cacia's Orange Essential Oil rates a 1, and only has one ingredient, orange essential oil, which rates a 5. Somehow putting it in a bottle made it safer?]
Clove Bud Essential Oil
EWG Rates it 3-4Clove bud essential oil has powerful antioxidant and antibacterial properties. It's being studied as a cancer drug and as an antibacterial preservative. (Source)(Source)
Yet despite this information, EWG would rather companies use butylated hydroxytolulene as an antioxidant instead. BHT is a synthetic chemical that's been found to promote tumor growth (Source), is a known estrogen mimicker (Source), and creates free radicals in the body (Source), EWG awards it a lower risk score of 3.
Ylang Ylang Essential Oil
EWG Rates it a 3-5EWG dings ylang ylang essential oil for being a potential allergen. Yet ylang ylang has been shown to be anti-inflammatory on skin (Source), an antibacterial agent, (Source), and is being studied for its anti-anxiety properties. (Source)
EWG suggests using the artificial fragrance compound hexyl salicylate instead. Despite the database acknowledging that hexyl salicylate is a potential endocrine disruptor, they award it with a low-risk rating of 2. Hexyl salicylate is suspected to inhibit the metabolism of estrogen (Source) and is "[v]ery toxic to aquatic organisms, may cause long-term adverse effects in the aquatic environment." (Source)
Geranium Essential Oil
EWG rates geranium essential oil a 4 for being a potential allergen. Geranium essential oil, however has been studied for its general chemoprotective properties (Source), for being able to fight prostate cancer (Source), for protecting kidneys (Source), supporting liver health (Source), and fighting colon cancer (Source).
But EWG would rather formulators choose a synthetic preservative, Japanese Honeysuckle Extract, awarding it with a "1" rating. This controversial synthetic preservative sounds like a natural extract but is not. (Read more about it here.)
Tea Tree Essential Oil
In 2007, it was rumored that tea tree and lavender were estrogenic and caused young boys to grow breasts. However, after the initial case studies that correlated use of the essential oils to those side effects, no causation was found. After 15 years of data, no link has been found. (Source) Yet EWG gives tea tree essential oil a "6" rating because of these old rumors.
Tea tree oil exerts antioxidant activity and has been reported to have broad-spectrum antimicrobial activity against bacterial, viral, fungal, and protozoal infections affecting skin and mucosa. Several studies have suggested the uses of tea tree oil for the treatment of acne vulgaris, seborrheic dermatitis, and chronic gingivitis. It also accelerates the wound healing process and exhibits anti-skin cancer activity. (Source)(Source) It also has been found to be helpful in treating psoriasis. (Source)
Instead, EWG would rather companies use methyl salicylate instead, giving it a risk score 1-3. Methyl salicylate is the active ingredient in IcyHot, and has caused deaths from topical over-application. (Source) Even a mild overdose of this toxic compound can cause seizures, hearing loss, nausea and vomiting. (Source)
Jasmine Oil (technically Jasmine Absolute)
The beautiful scent of jasmine! There's nothing quite like it. EWG Rates it a 4-5 for being a potential allergen. But jasmine oil has been found to fight skin and brain cancer cells. (Source) It's also being studied for being able to treat lung cancer (Source) and as a potent antioxidant compound. (Source)
EWG would rather you use the synthetic version of jasmine, a chemical called methyldihydrojasmonate. A chemical described as corrosive and acutely toxic. (Source) EWG awards it with a risk score of "1"
Toxic Oils EWG Misses
Now, here's the strange thing. There are a whole bunch of essential oils that actually are toxic, but EWG gives them "safe" scores:
Wintergreen essential oil, which contains highly toxic methyl salicylate, scores a 1
Bitter almond oil, known to contain highly toxic hydrocyanic acid, scores a 1
Thuja essential oil scores a 1, despite containing thujone, a neurotoxin known to cause convulsions.
Camphor oil scores a 1, some varieties contains safrole, a possible carcinogen, and camphor [the compound] which is a neurotoxin and convulsant.
The Bottom Line:
Essential oils are powerful substances that do carry the risk of allergies, just like anything found in nature: food, trees, grass, animals. And some are downright toxic. They must be diluted and used properly, but when they are, many can be highly beneficial. Because EWG's database simply pulls data from other databases, doesn't take in to consideration any kind of positive information about a substance, and doesn't have someone with knowledge about essential oils and chemistry to really personally review these ingredients, essential oils rate higher in the database than some synthetics that have a lack of data. It is my opinion that this needs to change.
