# How dangerous are deodorant sprays like 'Axe/Lynx'? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [May 14, 2017, 12:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-dangerous-are-deodorant-sprays-like-axe-lynx/786563 "2017-05-14T00:52:11Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 13\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![femmejean](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/0ea827/32.png) [@femmejean](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/femmejean)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2017, 12:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-dangerous-are-deodorant-sprays-like-axe-lynx/786563/1 "2017-05-14T00:52:11Z")
Towards the respiratory system? Apparently, some kids in England who spray these in poorly ventilated rooms for too long die frequently. I understand they contain aerosolized alcohol but not sure how this harms the lungs. ---
**Author:** ![Sigene](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/df788c/32.png) [@Sigene](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sigene)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2017, 1:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-dangerous-are-deodorant-sprays-like-axe-lynx/786563/2 "2017-05-14T01:08:24Z")
I think we will need some reliable citation that this really true and not just some Facebook lie or the like. I seriously doubt what you say is remotely true…I’m happy to change my mind. Show me some reliable evidence of anything you wrote is really true. ---
**Author:** ![femmejean](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/0ea827/32.png) [@femmejean](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/femmejean)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2017, 1:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-dangerous-are-deodorant-sprays-like-axe-lynx/786563/3 "2017-05-14T01:45:21Z")
> [@Sigene](#): > > I think we will need some reliable citation that this really true and not just some Facebook lie or the like. > > I seriously doubt what you say is remotely true…I’m happy to change my mind. Show me some reliable evidence of anything you wrote is really true. [Lynx Death (Telegraph)](http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/3489942/Boy-12-collapses-and-dies-after-spraying-too-much-Lynx-deodorant.html) [Lynx Death (Medical Daily)](http://www.medicaldaily.com/british-teen-dies-too-much-deodorant-spray-368796) ---
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2017, 2:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-dangerous-are-deodorant-sprays-like-axe-lynx/786563/4 "2017-05-14T02:15:29Z")
Ingredients for A: > [@](#): > > Alcohol Denat., Butane, Isobutane, Propane, Parfum, Citronellol, Coumarin, Geraniol, Hexyl Cinnamal, Hydroxyisohexyl 3-Cyclohexene Carboxaldehyde, Linalool Ingredients for B: > [@](#): > > Alcohol denat. · Isobutane · Propane · Propylene Glycol · Butane · Parfum (Fragrance) · T-Butyl Alcohol · Polyglyceryl-3 Caprylate · 3-Methyl-4-(2,6,6-Trimethyl-2-Cyclohexene-1-YI)-3-Buten-2-One · Benzyl Alcohol · Benzyl Benzoate · Citral · Citronellol · Coumarin · D-Limonene · Eugenol · Geraniol · Linalool Ingredients for C: > [@](#): > > alkyl dimethyl benzyl, ammonium saccharinate, ethanol/SD alcohol 40 and carbon dioxide A = Lynx Body spray; B = Right Guard® Sport Original Deodorant Aerosol; C = Lysol Disinfectant Spray) Looks to me that the problem is spraying too much of any aerosol in an enclosed space, not Lynx or body spray per se. ---
**Author:** ![Sigene](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/df788c/32.png) [@Sigene](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sigene)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2017, 3:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-dangerous-are-deodorant-sprays-like-axe-lynx/786563/5 "2017-05-14T03:18:21Z")
Thank you for the citations. I greatly appreciate the education! ---
**Author:** ![bob\_2](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bob_2/32/3341_2.png) [@bob\_2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bob_2)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2017, 8:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-dangerous-are-deodorant-sprays-like-axe-lynx/786563/6 "2017-05-14T08:49:11Z")
Butane seems to be the most dangerous item in that list: > [@](#): > > Inhalation of butane can cause euphoria, drowsiness, narcosis, asphyxia, cardiac arrhythmia, fluctuations in blood pressure and temporary memory loss, when abused directly from a highly pressurized container, and can result in death from asphyxiation and ventricular fibrillation. It enters the blood supply and within seconds produce intoxication. Butane is the most commonly misused volatile substance in the UK, and was the cause of 52% of solvent related deaths in 2000 > > [Butane - Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Butane) ---
**Author:** ![usedtobe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/ec9cab/32.png) [@usedtobe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/usedtobe)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2017, 9:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-dangerous-are-deodorant-sprays-like-axe-lynx/786563/7 "2017-05-14T09:22:14Z")
Is this the same as ‘Huffing’ the fad of middle class white kids. get plastic bag, place over head seal it as well as possible. introduce some solvent-based substance (styrene glue bane of model airplane builders). Get high? All I could guess was oxygen starvation to the brain. if high enough, pass out with bag full of nasty gas and die. ---
**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2017, 2:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-dangerous-are-deodorant-sprays-like-axe-lynx/786563/8 "2017-05-14T14:49:17Z")
The first link describes what appears at most to be a pre-existing cardiac arrthymia possibly exacerbated by overexposure to a solvent in the deodorant spray. The second instance cited sounds pathological and perhaps akin to “huffing”. I wouldn’t be surprised that if you spray up a storm of butane-containing spray in an enclosed, poorly ventilated space there might be health repercussions. Normal use, highly doubtful. ---
**Author:** ![SciFiSam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/47e85d/32.png) [@SciFiSam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SciFiSam)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2017, 2:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-dangerous-are-deodorant-sprays-like-axe-lynx/786563/9 "2017-05-14T14:56:27Z")
Frequently is clearly wrong, and Lynx may not be the only offender. But it was banned from the changing rooms of a school I once worked in because it set off asthma attacks in other students. It’s hard to say whether other deodorants would be worse because Lynx was so popular - don’t think I ever saw another brand - but spray deodorants are fairly obviously not good for asthmatics if sprayed in sufficient quantities around them. Changing rooms always have shut doors for obvious reasons and are not usually as well ventilated as regular classrooms. Never heard or seen of anyone dying from an asthma attack as a result though, in that school or any other. ---
**Author:** ![Tripler](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripler/32/21807_2.png) [@Tripler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tripler)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2017, 12:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-dangerous-are-deodorant-sprays-like-axe-lynx/786563/10 "2017-05-16T00:25:40Z")
I don’t know about the chemicals, but I tried it a few months back and damn near suffocated from all the hot women that clung to me all day. Seriously! I was drowning in their attention and had to switch back to Lifebuoy. That Axe crap can kill you! Tripler This post, like a commercial that inspired it, may in fact be pure bullshit. ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2017, 1:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-dangerous-are-deodorant-sprays-like-axe-lynx/786563/11 "2017-05-16T13:13:07Z")
> [@femmejean](#): > > Apparently, some kids in England who spray these in poorly ventilated rooms for too long die frequently. Wait, what? How could someone _die frequently_? I think death is a non repeatable endpoint. ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2017, 1:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-dangerous-are-deodorant-sprays-like-axe-lynx/786563/12 "2017-05-16T13:56:51Z")
> [@SciFiSam](#): > > Frequently is clearly wrong, and Lynx may not be the only offender. But it was banned from the changing rooms of a school I once worked in because it set off asthma attacks in other students. It’s hard to say whether other deodorants would be worse because Lynx was so popular - don’t think I ever saw another brand - but spray deodorants are fairly obviously not good for asthmatics if sprayed in sufficient quantities around them. When I was at boarding school there were always one or two kids who had Right Guard or somesuch instead, and we roundly mocked them. ---
**Author:** ![astro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9dc877/32.png) [@astro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astro)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2017, 2:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-dangerous-are-deodorant-sprays-like-axe-lynx/786563/13 "2017-05-16T14:37:27Z")
The gym I go to has a small one person changing bathroom and the guy who leaves just before me has an apparent body spray-deodorant fetish. I do not have asthma or respiratory issues but the sheer density of the spray he leaves behind makes the room physically uninhabitable unless it’s aired out for 5-10 minutes or so. What amazes me is the persistence of the aerosolized cloud he leaves behind. If the door is not opened to vent the particles they will hang in suspension in the air for well over 10 minutes. How he stands it I don’t know but if I was forced to be in an environment like that for any period of time I guarantee you I would have respiratory issues. If I did have pre existing respiratory issues this would trigger them immediately. I see the schools position. It’s very annoying to me with normal lung function but could be deadly for someone else.