Janessa, Sally, and several others in The Beauty Brains community have asked about the health risks associated with using antiperspirants. While we share your concerns, it turns out that most of those rumors are just that: rumors. How do we know that? Because we trust the research done by the experts in the medical field. So, fresh from the American Cancer Society’s website, we present the true story:
The Top 5 Myths About Antiperspirants
- Antiperspirants increase a person’s risk of developing breast cancer.
- Applying antiperspirant after shaving allows chemicals to enter the body from the armpit area and increase breast cancer risk.
- Parabens in antiperspirants cause disease.
- Antiperspirants keep a person from sweating cancer-causing toxins out through their underarm lymph nodes, resulting in accumulation of these toxins in breast tissue.
- Men are less likely to get breast cancer because antiperspirant gets caught in the underarm hair and is not absorbed by their skin.
Click through to the ACS site for the full explanation on why these myths are false. And don’t believe everything you read on the internet unless the information can be traced to a credible source. That’s one of the basic beliefs of The Beauty Brains.
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I read in a scientific journal that studies were being done regarding the ingredient(s) Aluminum Zirconium Trichlorohydrex GLY found in Secret deodorant. Some of the studies showed that the Aluminum caused abnormal cell growth that could lead to cancer. I was wondering if the information from your article and the ACS site were for specific antiperspirants, or if it was just general about many antiperspirants. Thanks!
Thanks for the comment, Stef. Aluminum Zirconium Trichlorohydrex GLY is one of the most common APD ingredients and as such would be covered by the ACS article. If you can tell us the scientific journal that cited studies to the contrary, we’d be glad to look into it.
I have read the same concerns regarding aluminum. Supposedly, the aluminum salts in antiperspirants can mimic estrogen. And chemicals that imitate estrogen are known to affect breast cancer. (April 2006 issue of Journal of Applied Toxicology.) This isn’t just with Secret, but with all antiperspirants. Since it is so controversial, I think if you could find a natural product that was just as effective and did not contain parabens or aluminum, it would be best to use it and play it safe.
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Thanks for posting! Just wondering if a deodorant such as Toms that doesn’t include aluminum is really better than a regular one that does. I had gone to a naturalist when my thyroid crashed and he told me part of my problem was the aluminum. Is this true?