Is there aluminium in deodorants?
Well, strictly speaking, there should be no aluminium in deodorants, they contain only alcohol. Antiperspirants are the ones containing aluminium. However, many products on the shelves these days will be a combination of both a deodorant and an antiperspirant. Check the label to be sure.
We’ve all heard before that sweat does not smell ‘bad’ by itself. Bacteria are responsible for the nasty scent. That’s why only old sweat is causing a less pleasant odor. In fresh sweat the bacteria have’t had the chance to grow yet.
Alcohol vs. Aluminium
Deodorants act against bacteria on the outside of our skin. Antiperspirants contain aluminium and will go one step further. They try to prevent sweating by affecting the sweat glands themselves. In preventing the sweat from forming, antiperspirants take away the moist environment bacteria need to thrive.
Deodorants contain alcohol to kill bacteria as they from. Antiperspirants use aluminium salts to prevent the forming of bacteria all together, by keeping the skin from sweating normally. The aluminium salts in antiperspirants act by plugging our sweat glands. Not only do aluminium salts have an astringent effect on our pores, which means the pores contract and become smaller, the also interact with our sweat and keratin. A reaction that causes the pores to clog. Being that there’s a clog in the already reduced-sized pores, less sweat will reach the surface of our armpits.
Good to know:
The FDA has categorised deodorants as cosmetics and anit-perspirants as drugs.
Various different forms can be found on the label of deodorants/anti-perspirants: aluminium chloride, aluminium chlorohydrate, aluminium-zirconium compounds, aluminium zirconium tetrachlorohydrex gly and aluminium zirconium trichlorohydrex.
Aluminium in deodorants/antiperspirants causing health issues
Different statements testify that there is no link at all between aluminium and Alzheimers disease.
On the other hand, some sources refer to tests where the autopsy of Alzheimers patients showed the presence of significantly larger amounts of this metal in their brain.
The link between aluminium and breast cancer has been made very clearly. That alone sounds like a good reason to go for ‘safe-sweat-prevention’. Thing is, you don’t need aluminium in deodorants or antiperspirants to feel (and smell) fresh all day long. There are perfectly fine working natural alternatives available. We are exposed to so many toxins already, why would one want to add the aluminium in deodorants to that list? Sodium bicarbonate or baking soda does an amazing job.
Check out this delicious homemade deodorant recipe.
cool!