Repeated exposure to low doses of Tea Tree Oil – a common ingredient in many beauty products – can increase the chances of suffering from “superbug” infections, University of Ulster scientists have revealed.
They discovered that exposure to low doses of Tea Tree Oil make pathogens such as MRSA, E. coli and Salmonella more resistant to antibiotics, and capable of causing more serious infections.
Dr Ann McMahon and Professor David McDowell, members of the University’s Food Microbiology Research Group, said: “We have been growing pathogens such as MRSA, E-coli and Salmonella in low concentrations of tea tree oil. These concentrations are not sufficient to kill the bacteria, but can switch on their defense mechanisms. Unfortunately, these defence mechanisms have the added effect of making bacteria more resistant to antibiotics, and able to cause “harder to treat” infections.”
For further information visit "news.ulster.ac.uk":[ http://news.ulster.ac.uk/releases/2007/3000.html]
or read original article in the "Journal of Antimicrobial Chemotherapy":[ http://jac.oxfordjournals.org/cgi/content/abstract/59/1/125?maxtoshow=&HITS=10&hits=10&RESULTFORMAT=1&author1=McDowell&andorexacttitle=and&andorexacttitleabs=and&fulltext=tea+tree+oil&andorexactfulltext=and&searchid=1&FIRSTINDEX=0&sortspec=relevance&resourcetype=HWCIT]
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