AlanHo Posted April 12, 2006 Report Share Posted April 12, 2006 PopsCan I please bother you with a question – now that I see you are an axilla expert.My partner is giving me serious grief about using a deodorant because she fears that the body will absorb harmful chemicals. I must confess that the list of ingredients seems formidable as follows :-ButaneIsobutaneCyclopentasiloxanePropaneAluminium ChlorohydrateIsopropyl MyristateQuaternium-18HectoritePropylene carbonateParfumAloe BarbadensisLeaf extractTocopheryl acetateMasking agentI only recognise 4 of the above ingredientsCan you confirm that enough testing has been carried out to absolutely guarantee that the products are harmless when used regularly over a long period – or conversely that she is right to be concerned. The inclusion of an aluminium compound is of particular interest because of its alleged association (rightly or wrongly) with dementia.Thanks in anticipation of your expert help Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
andsome Posted April 12, 2006 Report Share Posted April 12, 2006 I'm not pops of course, but I have also looked into this. 'Er indoors and me both started to get a sensitive area under our arms, and even the gentlest of anti perspirants were causing discomfort. We have now switched to an anti bacterial deodorant. This product in NO way tries to stop perspiration. It merely applies a product to the skin which has anti bacterial properties, and stops the perspiration from building up a smell due to bacteria. In other words it kills the bacteria before they can cause odour. We now have no problems at all. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
-pops- Posted April 12, 2006 Report Share Posted April 12, 2006 You have to be careful to differentiate between a deodorant and an antiperspirant.Like andsome, I would never use an antiperspirant - not for the reasons that most others object to them but because I don't think it is right that you should interfere with normal bodily functions (sweating) for purely social reasons. That is why, in the US, antiperspirants are classed as drugs and must have approval from the Federal Drugs Administration before marketing.Now, because of this drugs approval being needed, there is very extensive data on the toxicity and adverse effects of antiperspirant products - bear in mind that these have been marketed since the 1890's (that is not an error, I do mean eighteen nineties) and nothing has been proven associating the use of aluminium (or aluminum) compounds in cosmetic products with Alzheimer's or with breast cancer (as some busybody woman, Dr Darbre at Reading University, is constantly trying, and failing, to prove).Regarding your ingredient listing, Alan, butane, isobutane and propane are the propellant gases that make the aerosol operate. Cyclopentasiloxane is a volatile silicone oil used to assist spreading the product on to the skin. As it is volatile, nothing remains on the skin after it has done its job.Aluminium chlorohydrate is the antiperspirant active material.Isopropyl myristate is an innocuous oil (occasionally used in food) to prevent the aluminium salt excessively drying the skin.Quaternium-18 hectorite is a natural clay (hectorite) modified with a material similar to that used in fabric softeners. It acts as a thickener of the product in the aerosol can to prevent the aluminium salt settling at the bottom in a thick cake.Propylene carbonate is a solvent used to "activate" the previous ingredient.Parfum = perfume in "international labelling speak".Aloes barbadensis is an extract from the aloe plant. It doesn't do anything except provide a marketing handle.Tocopheryl acetate is vitamin E.Masking agent is a single perfume material used to cover the odour of the product in cases where there is an unperfumed version (they have the same main mix and use different perfumes, or none at all, to prepare different variants in a product range). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AlanHo Posted April 12, 2006 Author Report Share Posted April 12, 2006 Thanks pops for the info. I take it that you are saying that an anti-perspirant product marketed in the US would be subject to their intensive food and drugs testing and therefore safe. The ingredients I listed were from Gillette Right Guard - unscented - which I believe has USA origins.I take your point about the benefits of deoderants though - perhaps it's time to change.Are any better than others or is "Acme Pong Killer" as good as it gets ?Reminds me of the story of the blonde who went into the chemists to buy some deoderant for her husband."Does he use the ball kind" asked the chemist"No - its for his underarms" was the response Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
-pops- Posted April 12, 2006 Report Share Posted April 12, 2006 Regarding the FDA and A/Ps - as the products are almost all international they will all have gone through the same safety assessments, especially in-house before marketing. Regarding which is better - it's a matter of choice and which works best on you. You will find some products much more effective than others and also find that some lose their effect over time - it's then time to change to something else.Thinking of oddities, there used to be a stick deodorant with the instructions for use "Remove cap and push up bottom". This faux pas was reported to the manufacturers who modified it to "Remove cap and twist bottom" because they had recently changed the design of the container. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
andsome Posted April 13, 2006 Report Share Posted April 13, 2006 The anti bacterial deodorant that we now use is called Bionsen, we bought it at Tesco. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.