Is it safe using deodorant everyday?

Tuesday, January 12, 2010

Deodorant is commonly used to prevent body odor and excessive sweat on the armpit. For some people, this small stuff can boost up their self-confidence. However, though it is a daily life powerful stuff, some people are afraid using deodorant can be toxic to the body. Well, is it true? Is it safe to use deodorant every day?

Deodorant is generally used as a body protection to keep your armpit dry or to avoid unpleasant smell caused by bacteria in the body. It functions to inhibit sweat canal so armpit produces less amount of sweat.

One of substantial elements that functions to inhibit the amount of sweat in body is aluminum. This element also can be found in drink water or cooking tools.

In the recent years, it was widely heard that aluminum in deodorant can be absorbed by body and gives a significant impact to development of breast cancer on women.

Aluminum compounds such as aluminum zirconium and aluminum chloride does contain estrogen than can stimulate the growth of breast cancer tissue. And there are fears this aluminum has the same effect when absorbed through the skin.

A study had been conducted in 2007. It was analyzing breast tissue from 17 breast cancer patients by measuring the content of aluminum in their body.

The research also found such amount of aluminum in the breast outer area, an area which deodorant is most applied. However, according to the American Cancer Society, researchers have not found a relationship between aluminum in deodorants to breast cancer so far.

Meanwhile, aluminum is also known to have a potential contribution to Alzheimer's disease. Although aluminum is often associated with certain problems in Alzheimer's brain, but there is no scientific evidence that shows a relation between this disease with aluminum in deodorants.

According to Howstuffworks, aluminum is dangerous, especially to people who have problems with kidney function. So to people who have problems with the kidneys it’s quite wise to consult your doctor first before using deodorant.

This is because aluminum absorbed from digestive track can cause bone disease or dialysis dementia. Half amount of aluminum in the body will be absorbed by bone within 2 hours, while the rest will be excreted. Thus to people who have kidneys problem, this excretion process will be disrupted.

Another common problem caused by using deodorant too often is that the body will loose the ability to remove the waste through sweat glands as it’s inhibited by a deodorant effect. This makes the kidneys and liver work hard to remove toxins.

Although there is no scientific evidence that shows the using of deodorant may cause breast cancer or Alzheimer's disease, it is safe to use deodorant properly, so it’s not inhibited your sweat to much. However, if you really need deodorant to boost up your confidence, it will be much wiser to use an aluminum free deodorant.