Deodorant, with a side of endocrine disruptors and aluminum - linked to fertility issues & breast cancer

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Our skin is more than the lining that keeps our muscles, veins and everything else in place. Our skin is the largest organ of our body and it absorbs - into our bodies - anything we put on it.

I started using deodorant at the first sign of body odor… when I hit puberty, around age 14. I used it daily for almost 20 years. Until, in my 30s, working in the Beauty industry, I kept seeing all these “clean” deodorant brands popping up…Schmidt's was the most popular and Tom's, then a slew of others came.

That raised the question: Why do we need “clean” deodorant? What is wrong with today’s deodorant that it needs to be “clean”?

This is when I started researching and was shocked and disappointed at what I found and what happened next:

• Most deodorants have aluminum, triclosan, parabens and phthalates as main ingredients, these are endocrine disruptors and aluminum is linked to cancer

• Endocrine-disrupting chemicals can damage our endocrine system by mimicking, blocking or interfering with our hormones

• The endocrine system is the one responsible for biological processes like normal growth, fertility and reproduction - and I started using it at age 14!

• Damage to the endocrine system can result in significant development and biological effects, including disorders like ADHD and preterm births

It actually gets worse when using anti-perspirant deodorant.

Sweat is blocked by using aluminun. The underarms are right next to the breasts. Research shows that genes may become unstable in the presence of aluminum and that aluminum in deodorant is linked to breast cancer.

P.s., a lot of deodorant brands, including Secret and Mitchum, also have talc which may have asbestos; talc can cause lung cancer and mesothelioma - a cancer affecting the lining of organs.

What did I do with this information and what happened next?

First, I had to ‘detox’ my body. This meant going without deodorant for a couple of weeks.

Mind you, I live in New York City where summers are hot & humid - as in 90F and 70%+ humidity. So, smelly armpits are a huge risk.

I started on a low-risk weekday -- Thursday and Friday were going to be quiet at the office with most people out on vacation, then I could head into the weekend safely.

This is when my eyes almost popped out of my head.

That Sunday (day 4 of not wearing deodorant), with over 100F and inevitably sweating, I was laying on the beach with my hands behind my head. As I turned my head to the left to look at a dog, I could smell my underarms…ew…and as the thought of freshening up in the sea started to cross my mind, I glanced at my underarm. I couldn’t believe what I saw! My pores spewing out none other than the white deodorant! I had showered every single day and not worn deodorant for 4 days. Why was deodorant coming out of my skin??

This was the tipping point for me.

Why was my body pushing out this product? And, how could there possibly be deodorant under my skin?

Our body is an incredibly efficient machine. It has been refined and made almost perfect over hundreds of thousands of years of evolution so there is a reason why we sweat.

Sweating allows our body to get rid of toxins and helps to regulate our temperature (when we are at risk of over heating, our brain tells our body to secrete fluids to cool us off via evaporation). By the way, while aluminum blocks sweat from coming on the skin, our glands still secrete the sweat, I just don’t know where it goes!

So why would we want to block that process with a product that instead adds more toxins?

I know, I know…sweaty underarms are not comfortable. Smelly underarms are even worse!

So what to do?

If you want to jump to the solution, skip over to the last section. If you want to learn from my journey, read this part 🙂

“Clean” deodorants

First I tried Schmidt’s deodorant. I found it to be annoying to use. I’d have to warm it up against my skin for it to actually slide and I would almost always end up with residue in my underarms (at least it wouldn’t go in my skin!). This happened with other natural deodorants like Kaia Naturals (which was also expensive) and Hey Humans.

Because these are “clean” formulas, they are not anti-perspirant and so I was still sweating. Combined with the sweat, these formulas were not as effective and by mid-afternoon I was already smelly.

Caveat: I haven’t tried one of these since 2021 so the formulas may have improved.

The “rock crystal”

Then I heard about the “rock crystal”. This magical rock that if you applied a little water to it and you swiped it over your underarms would protect against odor better than deodorant.

I was lucky to find one at a hippie market in Mazunte, a beach town off the Pacific coast of Mexico during a vacation. I bought it for $10 and brought it back to New York City – after convincing customs at JFK that it was safe to bring and not some sketchy thing! I used it for about a week and it was magically working but then I did the research.

The “rock” works to a degree. But, there is a risk associated with it. To find a truly clean one is very difficult - a clean rock is translucent and shouldn’t have any cloudy spots.

Most stones are a byproduct of, none other than, aluminum mines! So, it is important to make sure that the stone doesn’t come from the vicinity of a mine, otherwise it will contain aluminum deposits and we are back at square one.

My research showed that Mexico had aluminum mines near Mazunte so the likelihood that my hippie stone was sourced from within the vicinity of the mine was too high. I trashed my stone.

My final solution

Lemon with a twist

I explored the old tales of swiping a lemon wedge on the skin, but I did it more hygienically.

I grabbed 15ml glass vials with droppers, like these ones (glass vs. plastic, as you probably know by now, doesn’t transfer or affect its contents). I thoroughly washed a couple of lemons and squeezed the juice into the clean glass vials. The 15ml vials store lemon juice for up to 2 weeks and I store them in the fridge for freshness. Anything bigger than that may be too much and risk freshness.

After every shower, I head to the fridge and apply 2-3 drops of lemon juice under each arm. My boyfriend uses 6-7 drops. Much faster than warming up the clean deodorant on my skin. The cool liquid always feels good, especially in the summer!

I did have an issue with this method. The lemon juice is astringent and is not an anti-perspirant so I would still sweat under certain circumstances. The friction between the skin of my arm and the skin of my torso combined with the moisture would result in a skin rash that would become painful.

Enter coconut oil

Coconut oil is not only emollient and moisturizing but it is also a natural antibacterial. Double win!

Again, what causes the bad underarm odor is the bacteria; bacteria lives on our skin naturally but when we sweat, it feeds on the proteins and lipids in the sweat and it is the bacteria growth that causes the odor. The citric acid in lemon is the first line of defense against odors. The second line of defense is the coconut oil that kills the bacteria (no more bad smell) and leaves skin moisturized and with a soft coconut scent.

I’ve been using this combination of lemon juice drops + let dry + coconut oil for 4 years:

• My underarms never smell (I can actually go a few days without anything, like when I go on vacation and I’m okay…of course, every body is different)

• I no longer get razor burn bumps

• The skin on my underarms is no longer stained

• My shirts and blouses no longer have deodorant stains

• And most importantly, my endocrine system and my breast tissue is no longer at risk

When I get a little sweaty at the office, I stop by the bathroom and pat dry my underarms just for comfort and to mitigate any risk of odor.

This method has worked for me. I do heavy cardio workouts every other day without making those around me faint. But again, each body is different so see what works best for you.

If you try this, know that your body will automatically start detoxing. It will take some time for your body to re-learn to regulate itself and stop its reliance on the deodorant chemicals. All to say that, at first, you're going to get smellier than usual but then you'll regulate to a balanced point where you'll know how much lemon juice to use.

I like this coconut oil, which of course you can also use in the kitchen. I separate the oil for my underarms in 2oz glass jars like these ones, which are also great for traveling.

If you do go the route of deodorant, make sure it doesn’t contain aluminum, phthalates, fragrances (a lot of chemicals are hidden in the word “fragrance” as the FDA doesn’t require their ingredients disclosure). The last couple that I tried were Hey Humans and Kaia Naturals, though I still prefer the lemon + coconut oil way 🙂

Smell ya later!

If you'd like to send me a love note, I'm at Alexandria@alexandriacollective.com

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Sources:

Shoaff JR, Coull B, Weuve J, Bellinger DC, Calafat AM, Schantz SL, Korrick SA. Association of Exposure to Endocrine-Disrupting Chemicals During Adolescence With Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder-Related Behaviors. JAMA Netw Open. 2020 Aug 3;3(8):e2015041. doi: 10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2020.15041. PMID: 32857150; PMCID: PMC7455852.

Aluminium and breast cancer: Sources of exposure, tissue measurements and mechanisms of toxicological actions on breast biology

Philippa D. Darbre, Ferdinando Mannello, Christopher Exley