scented stick of antiperspirant may cause you more problems than you think. In fact, you may lose the
ability to think at all.
All antiperspirants rely on aluminum in the form of aluminum chloride, aluminum zirconium,
aluminum chlorohydrate, and aluminum hydroxybromide. These aluminum salts dry out sweat by
injecting aluminum ions into the cells that line the sweat ducts. When the aluminum ions are drawn
into the cells, water flows in; the cells begin to swell, squeezing the ducts closed so sweat cannot get
out.
Aluminum is a known potent neurotoxin, and it is loaded in our systems in generous doses. An
average over-the-counter antiperspirant might have a concentration of aluminum anywhere from 10 to
25 percent. The FDA also requires that all antiperspirants must decrease the average person’s sweat
by at least 20 percent. This means that antiperspirants should work hard to keep us dry!
Aluminum does much more than mess up the natural process of toxin elimination. When it enters the
bloodstream, it alters the function of the blood brain barrier. Granted, aluminumis not considered as
toxic as heavy metals, but there is evidence that aluminum from hygiene products and antacids does
contribute to two serious diseases: breast cancer and Alzheimer’s disease.
what
science
says
Aluminum is suspected to increase the risk of developing Alzheimer’s disease (AD), a
neurodegenerative disorder and the most common cause of dementia, affecting millions of men and
women worldwide. Scientists have found that plaques in the brain of AD sufferers contain aluminum.
While AD origins are still a mystery to many doctors, evidence is accumulating to show that
aluminum may be involved in the formation of the plaques in the human brain (Shcherbatykh,
Carpenter 2007) and is therefore a prime and, most importantly, avoidable risk factor for this
devastating disease.
Every day we rub aluminum-loaded antiperspirant in underarm areas where many lymph nodes are
located close to the surface of the skin. Recent evidence has linked breast cancer with aluminum-
based antiperspirants. In research published in the Journal of Applied Toxicology, Dr. Philippa D.
Darbre of the University of Reading in England has shown that aluminum salts increase estrogen-
related gene expression in human breast cancer cells grown in vitro, which makes aluminum a
powerful metalloestrogen (Exley et al. 2007). The new 2008 study found that aluminum content of
breast tissue in the outer regions (closer to the underarms) was significantly higher than the inner
regions of the breast (Gee et al. 2008). This happens because aluminum works as a strong genotoxin,
capable of causing both DNA alterations and gene mutations, according to numerous studies that link
breast cancer to various common chemicals, from aluminum to Triclosan and parabens (Gee et al.
2008).
“Lifetime exposure to estrogen is the risk factor which is tied most strongly to breast cancer,” Dr.
Darbre toldWebMD in 2006. “If the aluminum salts in antiperspirants enter the body and mimic
estrogen, it stands to reason that constant exposure over many years may pose a risk” (full article:
http://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/524555)..)
Opponents of the use of aluminum in personal care products agree that this metal is not the sole
cause of breast cancer and Alzheimer’s disease, but that it may play a role. Both diseases are caused