Tea Tree Oil
 
Where does the tea tree oil come from?
 

It is a volatile essential oil obtained by steam distillation of freshly harvested foliage of the Australian Tea Tree. It takes about one ton of branches and leaves to make 6–10 kg of the essential oil.

There are over three hundred varieties of the Melaleuca tree but only one, the Australian Melaleuca Alternifolia, has been found to have both antiseptic and fungicidal properties. This bushy tree with needle-like leaves, related to Eucalyptus and Myrtle, grows to about 20 feet and is native to the low-lying wetlands of Northern New South Wales in Australia.

 
The "Tea Tree Oil Air Cleaner"
 

A couple of jars will solve the common problem of a musty or moldy basement.  Placing a large jar in the suction duct of an heating or air-conditioning system will prevent the spread of molds through the house.

Tea tree oil helps eliminate molds not only in the indoor air we breathe, but also on surfaces and inside porous materials or furnishings.  Since it penetrates into porous surfaces to eliminate the roots of molds, it provides a lasting protection.   There are many liquid household cleaners that eliminate mold and mildew, but the results are only temporary.  The mold and mildew soon re-appear.  In the case of chlorine bleach, there are serious health and odor issues.  These products just clean the surface, Tea Tree Oil penetrates it.

The Discovery of Australian Tea Tree

 

Since the beginning of time, Australian Aborigines have used the tea tree for its healing properties. They treated cuts, burns, and skin infections by crushing the leaves and spreading the pulp over the affected area. They bathed in the healing waters of “magical healing lagoons,” where tea trees dropped their leaves and created a naturally antiseptic bath.

In the 1770s, the British explorer Captain Cook observed the Aborigines brewing leaves of the tree to make a tea used to cure various ailments. He then brewed a strong tea for his sailors to prevent scurvy. He coined the name “tea tree” and took the medicinal plants back to England for study. Scientists ignored the tea tree until 1920s, when Australian physicians began to use the oil to sterilize wounds after surgery. They found it to be much stronger than phenol (carbolic acid), the most widely used antiseptic at that time. And average Australians began to use the oil as a common household remedy for skin conditions and fungal infections. Then, the British Medical Journal reported that tea tree oil was "a powerful disinfectant – non-poisonous and non-irritant.”

During World War II, this “cure-all” became standard issue in the first-aid kits given to Australian soldiers and sailors for treatment of tropical infections, wounds, and everything else from head lice to trench foot. In 1955, the United States Dispensatory stated that tea tree oil was actively germicidal "with an antiseptic action 11 to 13 times that of carbolic acid." But the US “Big Pharma” had little interest in promoting a natural medication that is non-expensive and non-patentable.

The Health Effects of Biological Contaminants

 

Indoor biological pollutants are a major contributing factor to asthma and allergies, which have become a growing public health problem, particularly among children.

EPA warns: Biological agents are known to cause three types of human diseases:

  1. Infections, where pathogens invade human tissues
  2. Hypersensitivity diseases, where specific activation of the immune system causes disease
  3. Toxicoses, where biologically produced chemical toxins cause direct toxic effects

Many health effects are associated with biological contaminants:

  • Some mold and mildews can release disease-causing toxins.  These toxins can damage a variety of organs and tissues in the body, including the liver, central nervous system, digestive tract, and immune system.
  • Sysmptoms of exposure to biological contaminants include sneezing, watery eyes, caughing, shortness of breath, dizziness, lethargy, feaver, and digestive problems.  Children, elderly people, and people with breathing problems, allergies, and lung diseases are particularly susceptible to disease-causing biological agents in the indoor air.