Can Your Deodorant Cause Cancer?

CAN YOUR DEODORANT CAUSE CANCERAdvertising for deodorants has become all sorts of promises from the companies selling them of nice smelling concoctions that will provide you matchmaking to self-confidence by using their product. No product is available that can meet that promise. Just think of all the bacteria living on and in your body and how those relationships are healthy or not. Science is still determining the way your body might be using the bacteria living on your skin. To top it off, all these companies want you to believe that their particular product is completely safe to use. Just look at the MSDS (Material Safety Data Sheet) for the ingredients listed to know why this is most likely not the case.

Many hazardous chemicals used in deodorants are able to permeate your skin which can cause problems, and diseases such as cancer. Some of these hazardous chemicals found in blood from deodorants are:

  • Aluminum

  • Parabens

  • Phthalates

  • Triclosan

  • Fragrances

Our body contains glands that produce a milky substance in response to stressors, that cause our body to smell. There is no odor in the fluid but it will quickly develop an odor when combined with the bacteria living under your armpits. A dark, warm and moist environment for bacteria to live and flourish is provided in the armpits. Bacteria break down the fluid from the apocrine glands and they produce a product called thioalcohols, that in turn produce the odor.

Factors that play into development of body odor are:Can Your Deodorant Cause Cancer? Image

  • Stress

  • Medications

  • Foods

  • Refined Sugar

  • Deodorant

  • Hair Growth

  • Medical Conditions

Deodorants and antiperspirants are not the same. The main functions of deodorants is to kill the bacteria living on your skin and reduce your body odor. There is a dual purpose for the antiperspirants. Killing the bacteria to reduce odor and plugging your pores with aluminum to reduce sweating are their purposes. There were participants in a study who used antiperspirants and had strikingly altered bacterial communities compared to those who use deodorants. There was also a huge difference between those who used one of these products and those who used none. Those using deodorant or antiperspirant routinely supported colonies of Staphylococcaceae bacteria, and those not using these products routinely have higher numbers of Corynebacterium.

A study in 2014 found that using deodorant and/or antiperspirant could actually worsen your armpit odor. They found that the aluminum in antiperspirants killed off less odor-causing bacteria, allowing bacteria that produce more pungent odors to thrive instead.

Several natural options might be: nothing, lemon or lime, white or apple cider vinegar, baking soda and water, hydrogen peroxide, and tea tree and coconut oils.

Consider giving these ideas a try and see if it works for you. You do not want to stink but you also want to stay alive and healthy.

 – Dr Fredda Branyon