The aluminum salts, used to reduce the secretion of sweat, are suspected, by crossing the skin barrier, of potentially promoting the development of cancers. They could increase the risk of breast cancer in people using deodorants which contain it. An Austrian study, published in the scientific journal EBioMedicine, seriously points out the health dangers of aluminum salts present in certain antiperspirants.
Researchers at the University of Innsbruck (Austria) observed and compared the habits of deodorant use in 209 women with breast cancer and in 209 healthy women. Result: Those who use an antiperspirant containing aluminum several times a day on shaved armpits, at least since the age of 30, would double their risk of breast cancer, according to the study.
A disagreement among scientists
This is not the first time that the aluminum salts present in deodorants have been questioned. According to a study Switzerland, published in 2016 in the Journal of Cancer, they promote the appearance of breast cancer by crossing the thin barrier of the skin in the armpits.
But these statements are not unanimous within the scientific community. “The level of evidence is insufficient and there is no certainty about the risks associated with aluminum salts of antiperspirants in the development of breast cancer”, says Dr William Jacot, senologist oncologist at the Montpellier anticancer center , to Figaro. According to him, the sample on which the Australian researchers are based is “too small”.
In a report published in 2011, the National Agency for Medicines and Health Products Safety (ANSM) affirmed “that there is no relevant element allowing to consider dermal exposure to aluminum as presenting a carcinogenic risk. “. A conclusion that the ANSM confirms, recalling however that it is important to “limit the aluminum concentration in antiperspirants to 0.6%, and not to use them on damaged or irritated skin”.
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