Are Aluminum Containing Deodorants Still Bad for You? What The Research Says

Over the past several years, there has been constant chatter concerning the harm that aluminum containing products can cause.  Aluminum containing products can range from cookware to deodorant to vaccines.  Aluminum isn’t simply in deodorants or cookware.  Aluminum can be found in processed foods, soda cans, antacids, pancake mix, puddings, aspirin, anticaking agents, foil, vaccines, aluminum containing packaging, cheeses, meat binders, sauce thickeners, emulsifiers and melting agents too.

Substantial Amount of Evidence Confirm Aluminum Toxicity

 

Did this chatter develop out of nowhere and is it all just a theory?  The short answer is that the links between exposure to aluminum containing products and the onset of diseases such as cancer are very real and well substantiated by scientific research.  According to an article that appeared in the New York Times, the chatter began with a supposed email chain letter in the 1990s, which stated that antiperspirants could build up in the lymph nodes and ultimately lead to breast cancer and cell mutations in the body.  This article entitled, “Are Natural Deodorants Better for You, appeared in the scam or not column of the NYT.  The article appears to be a thinly disguised propaganda piece and was an attempt to discredit the years of research that have confirmed the association between usage of aluminum containing products and the onset of diseases such as cancer and Alzheimer’s Disease.  The complete disregard for actual scientific evidence that has been verified and which confirms that toxicity of aluminum and the harmful effects that it can have on the body is alarming.  I religiously read my hometown newspaper; one that can be considered to be the G.O.A.T. of newspapers but I can’t stand by misinformation and propaganda.  It read like a piece sponsored by conventional deodorant manufacturers.

 

The Green News Guide is barely scratching the surface in the enormous pool of research and evidence that confirms the association between aluminum containing products or aluminum exposure and the onset of disease.  The evidence confirming the harmful character of aluminum and the effects that it can have on the body was so large, one would certainly have a hard time compacting the evidence into an 800 word article.  The evidence is sufficient enough to inform decision-making concerning products that contain aluminum. Obviously, the research has indeed informed decision-making, manufacturing and marketing of such products. Within the past several years, society has seen a myriad of conventional deodorant companies create and market aluminum-free deodorants.  As the concern amongst  communities grew, companies manufacturing non stick pots and pans continue to make disclaimers such as “No hydroflourocarbons” or “Zero PFOCs.” Though the onset of disease and illness can be attributed to a myriad of factors, and there may be a few studies that have been unable to find a correlation, the research that have determined association are pretty informative and conclusive:

 

What The Research Says

 

A study examined cancer occurrence in 11, 103 male workers at an aluminum plant in Norway for a period of 43 years (Romundstad, Andersen & Haldorsen, 2000).  The workers were employed at the aluminum plant for 3 or more years. The study’s results clearly showed excess in development of bladder, pancreatic cancer as well as an elevated risk for kidney cancer. The study was unable to find elevated risk for lung cancer in men.  A similar study examined a total of 6,423 workers at a Canadian aluminum plant employed for 3 or more years.  From the study’s cohort, 662 men developed cancer, which ranged from stomach, bladder, kidney and lung cancer (Spinelli et al., 2006).  With increased exposure to aluminum, the workers’ risk for receiving lung cancer increased.

 

When it comes to understanding the correlation between diseases such as breast cancer and aluminum containing deodorant, it’s should be noted that constant and prolonged exposure is a major factor in cancer development. One study examined the intensity of underarm exposure to aluminum in breast cancer survivors.  Among 437 women, the study determined that frequency and earlier onset of antiperspirant deodorant usage along with underarm shaving played a role in breast cancer diagnosis (McGrath, 2003).  Shaving actually increases the absorption of aluminum in the body.  Evidence from other studies has shown increased prevalence of breast cancer in the upper outer quadrants of the breast.  Aluminum builds up in the breast tissue of individuals who frequently use products that contain the compound (Linhart et al., 2017).  The study found 100 cases of aluminum in the breast tissue of a cohort of 209 female breast cancer patients in contrast to 209 healthy controls.  An earlier study completed in 2007 also found a high prevalence of aluminum in human breast tissue and in the nipple aspirate fluids from female breast cancer patients (Exeley et al., 2007; Mannello et al., 2011). Aluminum is a metalloestrogen with known neurotoxic and genotoxic properties which can damage DNA and enable cancer cells to spread and grow (Exeley et al., 2007; Klotz et al., 2017).

 

 

Aluminum also affects the Brain 

 

Aluminum is a well known neurotoxin and several studies over the past few decades have been dedicated to understanding the relationship between aluminum and the onset of degenerative disorders such as Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s disease (Khawara, 2016).  Aluminum contributes to oxidative stress in the brain and as determined by a research study that examined autopsies of elderly patients.  Levels of aluminum were 20 times higher in elderly autopsies than those who were middle aged (Jannson, 2001).  Elevated levels of aluminum have been found in the brains of Alzheimer’s patients as well as individuals who have been exposed to aluminum in drinking water (Bhattacharjee et al., 2013;Wang et al., 2016).  Research has even confirmed a causal relationship between aluminum exposure and encephalopathy with dementia diagnosis (Parkinson, 1981).  

 

To conclude, it would be ignorant to overlook the mounting evidence that confirms the harmful nature of aluminum and the effects of prolonged aluminum exposure on the humans.  Though deodorant is one of many products that humans use, the evidence is sufficient to understand that aluminum isn’t an ingredient that should be used on the body for prolonged periods of time. 

 

One doesn’t need to be a rocket scientist to assess the risks involved with prolonged exposure and usage.  Decrease your human aluminum exposure potential by avoiding products that contain the metal especially products that require prolonged usage (i.e. aluminum containing deodorants).

 

For further learning and exploration, watch this video by Dr. Michael Greger discussing antiperspirants and breast cancer.

Had enough of heavy metals? Let Dr. Mechelle Eleene help you with a heavy metal detox and cleanse.

Reference

Bhattacharjee, S., Zhao, Y., Hill, J. M., Culicchia, F., Kruck, T. P., Percy, M. E., Pogue, A. I., Walton, J. R., & Lukiw, W. J. (2013). Selective accumulation of aluminum in cerebral arteries in Alzheimer's disease (AD). Journal of inorganic biochemistry, 126, 35–37. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jinorgbio.2013.05.007

 

 

Exley, C., Charles, L. M., Barr, L., Martin, C., Polwart, A., & Darbre, P. D. (2007). Aluminium in human breast tissue. Journal of inorganic biochemistry, 101(9), 1344–

1346. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jinorgbio.2007.06.005

 

Jansson E. T. (2001). Aluminum exposure and Alzheimer's disease. Journal of Alzheimer's disease : JAD, 3(6), 541–549. https://doi.org/10.3233/jad-2001-3604

 

 

Kawahara M. (2016). Nihon rinsho. Japanese journal of clinical medicine, 74(7), 1176–1185.

 

 

Klotz, K., Weistenhöfer, W., Neff, F., Hartwig, A., van Thriel, C., & Drexler, H. (2017). The Health Effects of Aluminum Exposure. Deutsches Arzteblatt international, 114(39), 653–659. https://doi.org/10.3238/arztebl.2017.0653

 

 

Linhart, C., Talasz, H., Morandi, E. M., Exley, C., Lindner, H. H., Taucher, S., Egle, D., Hubalek, M., Concin, N., & Ulmer, H. (2017). Use of Underarm Cosmetic Products in Relation to Risk of Breast Cancer: A Case-Control Study. EBioMedicine, 21, 79–85. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ebiom.2017.06.005

 

Mannello, F., Tonti, G. A., Medda, V., Simone, P., & Darbre, P. D. (2011). Analysis of aluminium content and iron homeostasis in nipple aspirate fluids from healthy women and breast cancer-affected patients. Journal of applied toxicology : JAT, 31(3), 262–269. https://doi.org/10.1002/jat.1641

 

 

McGrath K. G. (2003). An earlier age of breast cancer diagnosis related to more frequent use of antiperspirants/deodorants and underarm shaving. European journal of cancer prevention : the official journal of the European Cancer Prevention Organisation (ECP), 12(6), 479–485. https://doi.org/10.1097/00008469-200312000-00006

 

Parkinson, I. S., Ward, M. K., & Kerr, D. N. (1981). Dialysis encephalopathy, bone disease and anaemia: the aluminum intoxication syndrome during regular haemodialysis. Journal of clinical pathology, 34(11), 1285–1294. https://doi.org/10.1136/jcp.34.11.1285

 

 

Romundstad, P., Andersen, A., & Haldorsen, T. (2000). Cancer incidence among workers in six Norwegian aluminum plants. Scandinavian Journal of Work, Environment & Health, 26(6), 461-469. Retrieved July 30, 2021, from http://www.jstor.org/stable/40967093

 

Spinelli, J. J., Demers, P. A., Le, N. D., Friesen, M. D., Lorenzi, M. F., Fang, R., & Gallagher, R. P. (2006). Cancer risk in aluminum reduction plant workers (Canada). Cancer causes & control : CCC, 17(7), 939–948. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10552-006-0031-9