The Stink About Deodorant

Some coworkers recently went looking for some alternative deodorants after hearing that the levels of aluminum in common products can cause complications with lymph nodes. There are several other concerns related to health when it comes to ingredients in beauty products used on the skin around the armpits, shoulders and breasts and in trying to help find some answers we came up with some information that might be worth sharing. I am not a doctor, don't play one on TV or even live close to one(I think), so if you want more information you might want to talk to yours and do some of your own research, but I am going to do my best to present what we found from reliable sources. So the biggest concerns with deodorants and antiperspirants seems to be that any of the myriad chemicals and minerals can seep into your system one way or another. The two most commonly talked about are Aluminum and Parabens. First lets talk about Aluminum.nnQ. Is Aluminum going to kill me? The claim is that abundances of aluminum in the human body can be attributed to increasing the risk factor for any disease, from Breast Cancer to Alzheimer's Disease. Unfortunately the effects, if any, take generations to study and there need to be more studies with better controls to come to any conclusions that will change government regulations. Do some digging and ask your doctor for more information.nnQ. Will the Aluminum in my deodorant/antiperspirant get into my body? Certain types of aluminum salts are used in antiperspirants as vaso-constrictors, this means they essentially cause the pores in the applied area to swell up so that sweat can't move through the pores(think of it as pinching, not clogging or corking up). The problem is that some of these aluminum salt crystals can be small enough to actually get stuck in your pores. Many natural crystal deodorants say "Contains NO Aluminum Chlorohydrate" which is true, but does not mean "No Aluminum" they use Alum, which is a common name for potassium aluminum sulfate, which is basically an aluminum salt crystal that is too large to get stuck in your pores.nnQ. Okay, but that's still aluminum, can it get in my body? Yes, conditionally. The big fear is that aluminum can get into our bodies and cause havoc to our lymph nodes(they allow our skin to clear bacteria out of our system) as well as promote Breast Cancer. Well, our sweat glands are not connected to our lymph nodes1. But our lymph nodes can get exposed to these products through nicks and cuts from underam shaving.nnQ. Can't pinching my pores like that cause the sweat and toxins my body was going to expel to get stuck under my skin and collect there harmfully? Not at all. Our bodies are very complex systems built to move chemicals, toxins and minerals out of our system in any way necessary and your underarms are not your only sweat glands.nnQ. What about those Parabens? Parabens are used as a preservative in most cosmetics. There was a study that found several types of Parabens in breast tumors6, but there has been no research to determine a link between Parabens in beauty products and cancer. There are Certified Organic deodorant and antiperspirant solutions out there if you want them, they are supposedly so safe you can eat them, if this is really something that concerns you please be sure to ask the right questions and try to read past the advertising. If you know of any other good resources or have more information please let us know, and feel free to ask any other questions you might have, I'll answer what I can. See also: 1. American Cancer Society - Antiperspirants and Breast Cancer 2. USAToday - Study disproves e-mail hoax linking antiperspirants, cancer 3. Cancer.gov - Antiperspirants/Deodorants and Breast Cancer: Questions and Answers 4. FDA - Antiperspirant Awareness: It's Mostly No Sweat 5. The Beauty Brains - Do Crystal deodorants really work? 6. Suzanne M. Snedeker, Ph.D. - The Danger of Parabens