Te
Tea Tree Leaf Extract
Melaleuca Alternifolia Leaf Extract · Melaleuca Alternifolia (Tea Tree) Leaf Extract
An extract of tea tree leaves, a different ingredient from tea tree oil.
What it does
The EU lists it for scent and as a skin conditioner.
The EU’s ingredient database lists it as a fragrance (adds scent).European Commission, CosIng (© European Union, CC BY 4.0) · uses put in plain words by Drop ↗
The evidence, graded
expert consensusUS safety reviewers (2026) judged 8 tea tree ingredients, tea tree leaf extract among them, safe as used in products made not to cause allergy. A product with 0.0078% leaf extract caused no allergy in a repeat patch test on 105 people. The reviewers noted that tea tree oil that has oxidized could cause allergy, and asked makers to limit that oxidation in products.Fiume 2026 · International Journal of Toxicology ↗
expert consensusTopical tea tree oil (Melaleuca alternifolia) is contraindicated during pregnancy, breastfeeding, and in prepubertal children. The 2023 systematic review of randomized trials and the ISO 4730:2017 standard both cite an absence of pregnancy-safety data; clinical case-evidence also links repeated topical exposure to estrogenic and antiandrogenic activity.Kairey 2023 · Frontiers in Pharmacology ↗
Graded per the methodology: strong · moderate · emerging · expert consensus. A weak source on a strong claim gets the weaker label.
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