Is Your Deodorant Safe?

Ingredients In Deodorants and Anti-Perspirants You Should Avoid

We unknowingly expose ourselves to a wide variety of chemicals every single day. Whether it is the cosmetics we use, the building materials in our homes, or the additives in the food that we eat, our bodies are inundated with a wide spectrum of chemical exposures that they would have never experienced, even 100 years ago.

The vast majority of these are likely harmless. Many have been tested for safety, or have been around long enough that they are known to be harmless. Others, however, have been shown to possibly be harmful, yet remain on the market and in a wide variety of consumer products.

This speaks to the tremendous lobbying power of industry, and the enormous power they yield when it comes to how they are legislated and what they are allowed to release to consumers. Unfortunately, their interests are not always the same as the interest of their consumers. A good example of this is sodium nitrates and nitrites, which have been known to be possibly carcinogenic since the 1970s. Sodium nitrates are regularly added to processed meats, such as hot dogs, bacon, sausage and beef jerky as a preservative.

However, when attempts were made to outlaw its use, industry mobilized to block those efforts, claiming that they had no other way of preserving their meat. We know that meat––even meats like bacon––can be made without such preservatives (many of these are readily available at supermarkets today), but it so happens that sodium nitrite is a color fixer, meaning that it helps meat maintain its color, making it more attractive to consumers. This is one example of how industry’s desire to sell its wares certainly took priority over the health and well-being of consumers.

The same is true of the cosmetics industry.

Particularly, products like deodorant and anti-perspirants contain a number of chemicals that are known to be hazardous to human health. The industry continues to use them anyway.

Aluminum Compounds
Often added to antiperspirants, aluminum can interfere with proper hormone, kidney, liver and brain function. 

Artificial Colors
These can be irritants, cause allergic reactions, and might be linked with certain cancers. 

Parabens
Parabens can disrupt endocrine function and might be linked to certain cancers.

Propylene Glycol
Propylene glycol, even in small amounts, can damage the heart, liver and kidneys. 

Silica
Silica is often contaminated with crystalline quartz, which is capable of causing cancer. 

Steareth–n
This additive is linked to certain cancers.

Talc
Certain forms of talc are linked with cancer.

Triclosan
Possibly carcinogenic, triclosan is an indiscriminate bacterial killer, meaning it kills beneficial skin bacteria as well as odor-causing bacteria. 

Triethanolmine (TEA) and Diethanolamine (DEA)
These chemicals can permeate the skin, damaging the liver and kidneys and are also linked with cancer.