Aly CohenMD, FACR, FABOIM · rheumatologist and integrative medicine physician, environmental health
Switch to a deodorant, and skip anything with PEG in the ingredient name
What it rests onPrecaution under uncertainty: the compound is applied daily to skin, its use is cosmetic rather than medical, and the swap is cheap. She makes no disease claim.
Source: thesmarthuman.com ↗
Joe SchwarczPhD · chemist, director of the McGill Office for Science and Society
Keep using it
What it rests onAluminium buildup in the brain is understood as a consequence of Alzheimer's disease rather than a cause, the amount absorbed from an antiperspirant is negligible, and there is no evidence for the paraben and breast cancer link.
Source: mcgill.ca ↗
Both are addressing general adults. Neither addresses people with hyperhidrosis, for whom an antiperspirant is a treatment rather than a cosmetic, which is the population where the tradeoff actually bites.
Both accept that aluminium compounds are the active mechanism and that they are absorbed in small amounts. Cohen does not assert the Alzheimer's or breast cancer claims that Schwarcz refutes, so the two are closer than the headline suggests: the real disagreement is whether a small avoidable exposure with no demonstrated harm is worth avoiding.
Human data on aluminium body burden attributable to topical antiperspirant use, and any outcome associated with it. Both positions currently rest on absorption estimates.
You do, and your call is dated, kept, and yours to change. Follow the people you already trust and what they publish turns into a short daily practice.
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