Natural deodorant is no better for health than traditional, doctors say

Google “natural deodorant” and you’ll find numerous articles detailing the reasons why you should buy it. Some say the aluminum contained in most conventional antiperspirants can cause Alzheimer’s disease or cancer. Others claim that certain ingredients in traditional deodorants and antiperspirants are “toxic”, or can kill the “good” bacteria that inhabit the armpits.

Many natural deodorant companies have taken advantage of these ideas, suggesting in their advertising that the ingredients in conventional deodorants are “things you don’t want,” and that what you want is their “natural” product, made from “odor fighters based on plants and minerals” and “clean ingredients”.

But experts, including an oncologist, an epidemiologist, a skin microbiome expert and several dermatologists, said there was no definitive evidence that regular deodorants or antiperspirants were worse for your health than natural deodorants. In fact, they are perfectly safe, according to experts.

While natural deodorants can contain seemingly healthier ingredients than conventional over-the-counter antiperspirants, they can include substances that can irritate the skin. After all, experts say, how a deodorant makes you feel (and smell) should guide your decision to use it.

Are natural deodorants better?

Not. One of the biggest and most alarming false claims about conventional antiperspirants is that they cause breast cancer — a rumor that started with a chain of e-mails from the 1990s.

She said that antiperspirants, which reduce sweating by blocking sweat ducts, prevent the armpit area from “eliminating toxins”, which can build up in the “lymph nodes under the arms”, causing cell mutations and, ultimately, breast cancer. . The letter also claimed that razor blade cuts could increase the risk of breast cancer by allowing chemicals from antiperspirants to penetrate the body.

This is false, say experts, including those at the American Cancer Society. “To date, there is absolutely no evidence that breast cancer is caused by exposure to anything in antiperspirants or deodorants, period,” said Dr. Harold Burstein, a breast oncologist at the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and professor of medicine at Harvard University School of Medicine.

The same goes for another cancer-related rumor: that aluminum in antiperspirants can be absorbed through the skin and increase the risk of breast cancer by modifying the estrogen receptors in breast cells. Once again, according to Dr. Burstein, there is simply no evidence to support this idea.

“Well-done human studies have never suggested this,” he said. And the studies that gave these clues were often done on animals or cells (like breast cancer cells in Petri dishes), using “unbelievably toxic levels” of the tested ingredients.

Either way, Burstein added, only a tiny fraction of aluminum can be absorbed through the skin, so exposure to the metal from using an antiperspirant is negligible.

There were also concerns stemming from research from decades ago that found that the brains of Alzheimer’s patients had high levels of aluminum. This suggested that metal — perhaps not just from antiperspirants, but also from other personal and household hygiene products like pots and pans — could be a risk factor for this degenerative disease. But today scientists dismiss the idea that aluminum can cause Alzheimer’s.

“The evidence is generally of poor quality,” said Amy Borenstein, a professor of epidemiology at the University of California, San Diego, who studies the causes of Alzheimer’s disease. “The whole affair was practically dropped.”

She noted that the link between aluminum and Alzheimer’s disease is difficult to study because aluminum is the third most common element in the Earth’s crust, which means we are all exposed to it in small amounts.

“We believe it’s important for people to have choices in choosing the everyday products that are right for them,” said Justin Boudrow, a spokesman for Tom’s of Maine, which makes a variety of natural personal care products, including toothpastes, mouthwashes, mouthwashes, soaps and products for the armpits. “That’s why we offer aluminum-free natural deodorants that provide odor protection, as well as aluminum-containing antiperspirants to protect against moisture.”

Are natural deodorants good for our microbiome?

There is not enough evidence to demonstrate this. There have been claims that common deodorants and antiperspirants can stop or kill the “good” bacteria that live in the armpits, leading to skin irritation, redness, bumps, and general skin health issues.

Some natural deodorant brands market their products as “microbiome-friendly,” claiming that they are not only good for your skin’s health, but also minimize odor by promoting the growth of “good” bacteria.

Jack Gilbert, an expert in skin microbiology at the University of California at San Diego, said he was not aware of any rigorous studies confirming this. “There’s a lot of related work, but nothing that definitively links diseases caused by a skin microbiome disorder to a deodorant or antiperspirant.”

Are the ingredients in natural deodorants better than those in traditional ones?

Not. Just because a deodorant is labeled “natural” doesn’t mean it doesn’t contain problematic ingredients. In fact, the term “natural” has no regulatory definition, so its labeling on personal care products is basically meaningless.

“You can get itchy or allergic skin rashes, and that’s actually the most common health problem seen with deodorants — all of them, whether traditional or natural,” said Dr. Jennifer Chen, associate professor of dermatology at Stanford University School of Medicine.

The most common problem with deodorants is irritant contact dermatitis, or skin irritation, said Chen, which “generally cannot be attributed to a specific ingredient, even if some are more irritating than others.”

The most problematic ingredient in any type of deodorant or antiperspirant, whether “natural” or not, is fragrance, said Dr. Nina Botto, an associate professor of dermatology at the University of California at San Francisco. This includes essential oils, which many natural deodorant brands use in their marketing.

“Botanical ingredients, plant extracts and essential oils are often cited as beneficial to health,” Botto said. “But these natural components actually cause a lot of health and skin problems.”

The combination of thin, pliable underarm skin, hair follicles, and humid environment makes this area of ​​the body more susceptible to irritation or allergic reactions compared to, for example, if you apply deodorant to your back.

In fact, noted Dr. Chen, a fragrance allergy study found that among many scented personal care products tested — deodorants, lotions, shampoos, shaving creams and hair dyes — deodorants caused the most cases of contact dermatitis. allergic, a rash produced by contact with an allergen.

Dr. Botto said that while she still sees people with allergic reactions to synthetic fragrances, she has seen more and more patients with allergic contact dermatitis after using products with natural fragrances, such as those containing linalool and limonene — natural compounds extracted from certain plants, such as bark. of citrus fruits, commonly used in natural deodorants.

Worse still, “we often see a person with a rash from using natural deodorant and applying balms and other ‘natural’ remedies that contain more of the same ingredients,” Botto said. “It’s like putting gasoline on a fire.” She noted that these rashes can also cause the skin to crack, which can lead to infection. “It can be a real mess,” she said.

Does natural deodorant really work?

Experts said they weren’t aware of credible studies on how natural deodorants work. But the way they are worded can offer clues.

Since natural deodorants do not contain aluminum (the element that helps antiperspirants reduce perspiration), they typically rely on ingredients like fragrances and baking soda to mask body odor. This means that natural deodorants should generally work just as well as regular ones in terms of keeping a person fresh.

However, while experts were not aware of any rigorous studies comparing the effectiveness of natural deodorants with that of antiperspirants, it is clear that they cannot neutralize the smell in the same way that an antiperspirant can. “Bacteria are stimulated to grow by the water and nutrients available in sweat,” said Dr. Gilbert. “So the antiperspirant goes into the main odor path.”

Dr. Arielle Nagler, assistant professor of dermatology at New York University’s Grossman School of Medicine, said a product’s effectiveness also depends on how it interacts with an individual’s biology. “Each one smells a little different,” she said, which depends on how much you sweat and what types of bacteria are in your body.

Should I buy natural deodorant or not?

Natural deodorant is no better or worse for your health than traditional deodorant or antiperspirant. “Many of the claims that one product is better than another are just marketing claims, not based on scientific evidence,” said Dr. Chen. “I don’t think there’s any proof that one is safer than the other.”

The Personal Care Products Council, an industry group representing personal care and cosmetics companies, echoed Chen’s and other experts’ view: People should choose based on their personal preference.

“Our members work to ensure that consumers have access to a variety of safe and effective products that help meet the different needs of them and their families,” the council said in a statement sent to The New York Times. “That includes offering ‘natural’ products to consumers who prefer them. It’s all about consumer choice.”

Still, dermatologists recommend fragrance-free options, especially if you’re allergic or sensitive to fragrances. “The more exposure a person has to some fragrance chemicals, the greater the risk of developing an allergy,” Botto said.

If you like to use scented deodorants, “that’s fine,” she added, “but if you have any kind of skin sensitivity it’s a risk.”

Or you can simply choose not to use deodorant.

Translated by Luiz Roberto M. Gonçalves