Does aluminum chlorohydrate in deoderant cause cancer?

Factual Questions
1

The title is the question.

2

…or Alzheimer’s, or brain damage.

3

No

The MSDS says nothing about cancer. Given that these things warn you if it might make your skin teleport to Mars on the third Wedensday of the month, I’d say it’s pretty safe…

4

Also, a somewhat related Snopes link

5

And if you don’t want to believe them, you can read what the American Cancer Society has to say.

(Again, the answer is NO.)

6

Ok, I’ve gotten plenty of responses regarding cancer, but could someone please answer whether it causes Alzheimer’s or brain damage?

Thanks a lot.

7

Except in dialysis patients, aluminum is NOT thought to be related to dementia (ie. Alzheimer’s). Here is a free full-text review article on the causes of dementia which includes a section debunking the aluminum connection.

8

http://www.straightdope.com/classics/a971219.html

http://www.straightdope.com/columns/000303.html

Sheesh, folks. Check the archives here, too.
Jill

9

Well I tried searching for “deodorant”, cause I thought I remembered a column, but got no hits.

Of course, I could have spelling it wrong…

10

An important amplification just in case the point is not clear there…

Consider that during hemodialysis, your entire blood supply is passed out of your body and into a machine over and over, for a few hours at a time, a few times a week, for months or years. Even the tiniest bit of any toxic substance that may be present in the dialysate is going to make its way into your blood and brain eventually, at that rate.*

I make this point so that people won’t make the leap from “aluminum can cause brain damage in dialysis patients” to “therefore, there must be some way that Al in deodarant can cause brain damage too.” The amount of exposure is different by many orders of magnitude.

*This dialysis information comes from personal experience, in case you need a cite.