Can anti-perspirants harm women's breasts? New study links deodorants to breast lumps
Carol Bailey was preparing for a romantic holiday with her boyfriend when she suddenly discovered, to her horror, a series of small, but growing, lumps in her armpits. Full Story Here
16 March 2009
Why women should avoid using anti–perspirants that could cause breast cancer
By PROFESSOR ROBERT THOMAS – Last updated at 15:55pm on 13th September 2007
Danger: The alluminum in
anti–perspirants could
cause breast cancer
New research suggests that the aluminium in many anti–perspirants has a potential link with breast cancer.
Here, a leading breast cancer specialist explains why he suggests avoiding the products:
- Women who have had breast cancer should consider not using antiperspirants or deodorants.
- And healthy women should think twice about it, especially those with a strong family history or other risk factors.
This is what I suggest to my patients and my own family. Giving up using deodorant could be as effective in reducing cancer risk as a diet rich in disease–preventing antioxidants.
This might sound surprising, as we know fruit and vegetables can help keep cancer at bay.
But the irony is that women – who are particularly diligent about eating enough fruit and veg – then cover their armpits every day with chemicals that mimic oestrogen, the cancer-promoting hormone.
Like many oncologists I routinely discuss with patients their lifestyle risks as well as the benefits of chemotherapy, hormones and Herceptin.
These factors include their exposure to potential dietary carcinogens, fat intake, level of exercise and exposure to pollutants – and deodorants.
Though a direct link with cancer has not been established, my view on deodorants is based on the available evidence and informed common sense.
This week, a study at Keele University found aluminium salts – used to block the pores so you don't perspire – can get into breast tissue.
Worryingly, these salts are more concentrated in the areas of the breast where cancer is more likely to develop – on the side and towards the armpit.
This study follows on from one done two years ago at the University of Reading, which showed aluminium salts can behave like oestrogen in the body.
This study also found that the preservative parabens used in these products has also been found in breast cancers.
Another part of the jigsaw came from a U.S. researcher, who has found that the more often women use anti–perspirants or deodorants (which make you smell nice without blocking the sweating) and shave their armpits, the earlier cancer is likely to appear.
What all this suggests is that using these products may make breast cancer more likely.
I’m very much aware there is no clear proof anti-perspirants or deodorants cause cancer, but with one in nine women developing the disease, it seems sensible to be cautious and not take unnecessary risks.
Of course, industry commentators such as the Cosmetic, Toiletry and Perfumery Association dismiss this latest research and claim there is no evidence for a link between breast cancer and anti–perspirants.
But I say: Why take the risk? We are surrounded by carcinogens and we can handle a certain amount, so the sensible thing is not to add to your exposure unnecessarily.
The point about deodorants is that once you get into the habit, you are going to use them every day for years, which means you build up a lot of exposure to a potential carcinogen.
I’ve been increasingly impressed by the impact lifestyle changes can have on the effectiveness of cancer treatment.
In response to the needs and desires of patients, I have established a major lifestyle research unit at the Primrose unit at Bedford Hospital.
I began to look around to see what could improve the effectiveness of cancer treatment.
I’ve just published a paper on the foods that raise the risk of prostate cancer, for instance.
Most people know there is a link between fried food and a cancercausing chemical called acrylamide, so it makes sense to cut down on barbecued food.
But I’ve found that some rather surprising foods, such as vegetable crisps and cream crackers, also have high levels of acrylamides, so it makes sense to cut down on these as well.
Though improving diet is important, I believe that an equally significant consideration is your use of deodorant.
The sensible thing is to cut down. Don't use them every day – only at those times when you really feel a need.
Then try alternating brands so you don’t keep on having exactly the same combination of chemicals.
Some say there is more risk with anti–perspirants than deodorants, but I believe that the less chemicals to which you expose your body on a daily basis the better.
There is a lot you can do just by washing thoroughly.
I’m certainly opposed to my family using deodorants and anti–perspirants.
My partner uses a natural crystal and she smells just fine.
Men could also think about their exposure to chemicals. In our household, this means my 14 year old son will use a deodorant only if he is going to a party (my ten year old is too young).
If I had girls, I would be even more strict about it.
No doubt my fellow oncologists wouldn’t want to commit themselves to such a definite position on the use of deodorants, but they would agree with the need to keep our exposure to chemicals to a minimum.
Not wearing a deodorant every day is not as bad is it sounds, and it could even be good for you.
Breast cancer rise linked to deodorants
From The Sunday Times June 15, 2003
Lois Rogers, Medical Editor
A POSSIBLE link between increasing use of antiperspirants and rising rates of breast cancer is being investigated by scientists.
Links have been discovered between some of the ingredients found in common antiperspirants and the development of tumours. The scientists are now demanding more money for research into chemicals that may be to blame.
New cases of breast cancer have doubled from about 20,000 a year in the late 1970s to almost 40,000 a year now. Britain has one of the world’s highest rates of the disease and every year almost 13,000 British women die from it. Per head, Britons are also among the biggest users of deodorants.
Philippa Darbre, a senior cancer researcher in the department of cell and molecular biology at Reading University, has just published a comprehensive review of research on the issue. Her conclusions point to a connection between “underarm cosmetics” and breast cancer.
“The nature of the chemicals in these cosmetics and the lack of any advice about safe quantity or frequency of application, should be of concern,” says Darbre’s report.
“The option to be able to do something to reduce the risk of breast cancer has long been awaited and would be welcomed by many women.”
The formation of malignant breast tumours is known to be linked to hormone levels. Laboratory experiments have indicated that chemical compounds in deodorants derived from zirconium and aluminium may be linked to hormone disruption. The chemicals are not only absorbed through the skin, but can also have damaging effects on DNA.
Researchers say more work needs to be done on whether the small quantities of the chemicals found in deodorants may be dangerous and how the compounds may affect cancer.
Deodorants were introduced at the beginning of the 20th century. Since then their use has spiralled, with increasing emphasis on personal hygiene and heavy advertising of products aimed at both men and women. Britons are now spending £400m a year on them. Leading brands such as Sure, Right Guard, Dove and Lynx all contain aluminium–based and/or zirconium-based compounds.
Darbre, whose review is published in the Journal of Applied Toxicology, pointed out that the rise of breast cancer in men parallels the increase in women, and has also doubled over the past three decades to about 300 cases a year.
Most tumours in both sexes occur in the upper–outer section of the left breast, the proportion in that area having increased from 31% in 1926 to 61% in 1994.
If deodorants are to blame this would be accounted for by the fact that use of them has increased and most people are right-handed and likely to apply more deodorant to their left armpit, Darbre said.
“There will undoubtedly be individual differences in levels of absorption or toxicity in different people, but more research is urgently needed and at the moment there is little impetus,” she added.
“There are no instructions about amounts to be applied or frequency of use, and the trend for uncontrolled usage of these chemicals well before puberty should be a cause of concern.”
A European commission report last Wednesday set out a programme of work to investigate how chemicals disrupt human hormones. “We know increased instances of breast cancer have been observed in the West and in countries adopting a western lifestyle,” a spokesman said.
The British Endocrine Societies have set up an expert panel on the issue under Richard Sharpe, a professor at the Medical Research Council’s human reproductive biology unit in Edinburgh.
Chris Flower, spokesman for the Cosmetic, Toiletry and Perfumery Association, said manufacturers were confident that deodorants were safe. “It is easy to show some of these ingredients have potential in–vitro (test–tube) effects, but there is no evidence to show that translates into in–vivo (real–life) effects,” he said.