What do the experts say?
It’s important to understand that, to date, there have been no studies that definitively prove that the aluminium and parabens in antiperspirants and deodorants can cause breast cancer and other negative health implications. However, expert opinion is divided over whether the limited research that has been carried out is sufficient for women to make an informed decision either way.
Latest opinions…
I always had a gut feeling anti perspirants were bad news. It\'s just logical you don\'t go against nature like that, but used it through…
rosalind, Northampton
Sweating is part of our natural detoxing system, so to stop the sweating process surely can\'t be a smart move? Sanex are now making a n…
Koshka, Bodmin
I suffer from extreme sweating and I\'ve tried every deoderant/anti-perspirant under the sun. The only thing that keeps me dry is Mitchu…
Angie Wilkie, Edinburgh
Why do some scientists believe more research is needed?
The belief that parabens build up in breast tissue was supported by a study in 2004Darbre PD, Aljarrah A, Miller WR, et al. Concentrations of parabens in human breast tumours. Journal of Applied Toxicology 2004; 24(1):5–13, which found parabens in 18 out of 20 samples taken from human breast tumors. This study didn’t prove that parabens cause breast cancer, or that the parabens came from antiperspirants, and the authors of the study didn’t analyse healthy breast tissue or tissue from other areas of the body. Critics of the study question its validity for those reasons, but other scientists believe that these initial results are significant and further research is needed.
An earlier study in 2003McGrath KG. An earlier age of breast cancer diagnosis related to more frequent use of antiperspirants/deodorants and underarm shaving. European Journal of Cancer 2003; 12(6):479–485. looked at the antiperspirant and deodorant use of 437 breast cancer survivors. It found that women who used these products and shaved their underarms more frequently developed breast cancer at an earlier age, as did those women who began both underarm hygiene habits before 16 years of age. It is important to note that this does not prove conclusively that the use of antiperspirants and shaving caused these breast cancers, but again, some scientists feel that the correlation is enough to warrant more research.
Dr Phillipa Dabre, co-author of the 2004 study mentioned above and a Senior Lecturer in Oncology at the University of Reading, says: “Since oestrogenOestrogen: A sex hormone, produced mainly by the ovaries, responsible for female sexual development and female secondary sex characteristics. is known to be involved in the development and progression of human breast cancer, any components of the environment that have oestrogenic activity and which can enter the human breast could theoretically influence a women’s risk of breast cancer”. Her personal recommendation to women concerned is to avoid the use of antiperspirant and deodorant products altogether – you can read an in-depth article outlining Dr Dabre’s views here.
Finally, the National Cancer Institute in America has this on their website: “Because studies of antiperspirants and deodorants and breast cancer have provided conflicting results, additional research is needed to investigate this relationship and other factors that may be involved.”
What do scientists on the opposite side of the debate say?
The largest study to date, carried out in 2002 and published in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute, examined the deodorant or antiperspirant use and underarm shaving habits of 813 women with breast cancer and 793 women with no history of the disease. The study found no evidence of a link between using deodorants or antiperspirants – alone or together with underarm shaving – and breast cancer risk.
The cosmetics industry is, perhaps predictably, quick to dismiss any links between antiperspirant use and breast cancer. In December 2005 the Cosmetic Ingredients Review announced that further research had not shown any need to change its original conclusion that parabens are safe when used in cosmetics.
Additionally, COLIPAThe European Cosmetic Toiletry & Perfumery Association states ‘parabens are hydrolysedHydrolysed: Broken down into a simpler compound that can pass more easily through the surface of the skin when mixed with water. in the skin and we have data to show that none are entering the blood stream’. However, when paraben cream was spread on the backs of healthy men in a Danish study, it showed up in their blood samples within hours.
Finally, Dr Sarah Rawlings, Head of Policy and Information at Breakthrough Breast Cancer, says: “There is no reliable scientific evidence to suggest a link between deodorant or antiperspirant use - both on their own and in combination with shaving - and breast cancer. A large number of scientific studies have investigated breast cancer risk factors, however there is no reliable evidence to suggest deodorant or antiperspirant use are two of them.”
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