Deodorants with Aluminum Chlorhydrate
COULD SMELLING GOOD BE BAD FOR YOUR HEALTH

Are we putting our health at risk every time we use a deodorant?

Smelling delicious and staying sweat free has never been so simple:
with a handy underarm spray or a roll on, perspiration can be blocked
and body odor erased. Indeed, most of us count anti perspirants and
deodorants as hygiene essentials, making them year round best sellers.
But suggestions are now surfacing that long term use of these products
may actually be harmful to our health.

The Aluminum Theory:
There is a difference between an antiperspirant and a deodorant: a
deodorant breaks down sweat and destroys the bacteria that cause body
odor; an antiperspirant acts on the sweat glands and can reduce
sweating by up to 50%. One of the key ingredients in anti perspirants is
aluminum chlorhydrate, a salt that reduces perspiration, and there are
two theories about how it does this, says David Thompson, the Director
of Marketing for Arrid Extra Dry.  It either constricts the pores or
it forms a PLUG to block them. But aluminum is currently under
scientific scrutiny following claims that raised levels of this metal
have been found in the brains of some people who had Alzheimers
disease. In 1995, the Archives of Toxicology published the results of
a study by French scientists from the Toxicology Laboratory at
Bordeaux University: when aluminum chloride (once commonly used in
antiperspirants) was applied to the shaved skin of lab mice, the
aluminum in their brains doubled. This seems to suggest that the metal
may be absorbed by the skin, a concern that has only been compounded
by the recent appearance on the market of aluminum free
antiperspirants. A number of studies have suggested a possible link between
Alzheimer and aluminum says Prof. Jim Edwardson, Director Of the Medical
Research Council Neurochemical Pathology Unit at Newcastle General
Hospital. None of them individually warrant concern but collectively
they mean we need to investigate such circumstantial evidence to be
sure there is no connection.