University Chemistry Report: Aluminum Toxicity Analysis in Deodorants

This report presents a comprehensive literature review on the analysis of aluminum toxicity associated with the use of deodorants and antiperspirants. The study examines the presence of aluminum chlorohydrate (ACH) and other aluminum compounds, their mechanisms of action, and potential health risks. The report discusses the historical context of deodorant use, the shift towards antiperspirants, and the increasing concern over aluminum exposure. It explores the effects of aluminum on the human body, particularly for individuals with kidney dysfunction, and its potential link to diseases like Alzheimer's. The analysis includes a review of various research articles, including the use of electrochemical sensing techniques to detect aluminum in deodorants. The report also covers the types of aluminum compounds used in antiperspirants, their efficacy in reducing sweat, and the ongoing efforts to reduce aluminum content to mitigate health risks. Ultimately, the report synthesizes the available evidence to provide a detailed overview of the chemistry and toxicology of aluminum in deodorants, offering insights into the current research and future directions in this area.

Chemistry
ANALYSIS ALUMINUM TOXICITY WITH DEODORANT
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Author Note

1Chemistry
Table of Contents
List of Tables................................................................................................................2
List of Figures...............................................................................................................3
Literature Review..........................................................................................................4
Abstract.........................................................................................................................4
Introduction...................................................................................................................4
Area of study.............................................................................................................4
Hypothesis................................................................................................................5
Aluminium salts and biotoxicity.................................................................................5
Use of aluminium compounds in antiperspirants and deodorants............................7
Types of aluminium compounds are used in antiperspirants and deodorants.........9
Aluminium in antiperspirants- Reduction in content to prevent health risks...........10
Summary.................................................................................................................11
Conclusion..................................................................................................................14
References.................................................................................................................15

2Chemistry
List of Tables
Fig 4. Potential of deodorants in Markets of Europe……………………………………
10
Fig 5. Effectiveness of antiperspirant of two
groups…………………………………….12
Fig 6. Comparative analysis of the experimental concentration of Al and theoretical
concentration of Al …………………………………………………………………………
13

3Chemistry
List of Figures
Fig 1. Standard vs Real sample voltammetry analysis curve……………………………
7
Fig 2. Plasma aluminium levels of the woman (patient)
………………………………….8
Fig 3. Deodorant demand (worldwide pie chart)…………………………………………
10

4Chemistry
Literature Review
Abstract
A minute quantity of aluminium chlorohydrate (ACH) has been observed as an active
ingredient associated with the use of antiperspirants. According to the discussions, it
can be stated that the human body has an effective mechanism in order to remove
the absorbed aluminium from the blood. However, people with kidney dysfunction
and renal failure are more affected by the harmful effects of aluminium. This paper
showed that diseases such as Alzheimer's disease and other nervous system
disorders have been found also to be associated with the overexposure of aluminium
to human skin. More than 90% of the population in the United States has been
observed to use deodorants and antiperspirants. Cell toxicity has been stated to be
caused by Al and finally leading to cancer. This was a qualitative and in vitro study
done to identify the aluminium constituents of the human breast. Aluminium salt has
been observed as an active ingredient inside all the antiperspirants present in the US
markets.
Introduction
Overproduction of sweaty skin, sweat and body odours has been found to be
a very unpleasant factor in various social groups. Thus, the use of antiperspirants
and deodorants are becoming significant nowadays. Deodorants are made up of
various chemicals in the form of either liquid or gas or aerosol. A minute quantity of
aluminium chlorohhydrate (ACH) and aluminium zeolite has been observed as an
active ingredient associated with the use of antiperspirants. More than 90% of the
population in the United States has been observed to use deodorants and
antiperspirants. Aluminium salt has been observed as an active ingredient inside all
the antiperspirants present in the US markets. This factor has become a flourishing
topic for research in the 21st century. Extreme sensitivity has been found to be
associated with the exposure of aluminium to human skin. However, the human body
has an effective mechanism in order to remove the absorbed aluminium from the
blood.

5Chemistry
Area of study
Still, people with kidney dysfunction and renal failure are more affected by the
harmful effects of aluminium. Diseases such as Alzheimer's disease and other
nervous system disorders have been found to be caused by overexposure of
aluminium to human skin. Soluble aluminium salts have been used as
antiperspirants has been found to differ in relative amount with chlorine and
zirconium contents of deodorants. The next section will discuss the systematic
literature review based on sixteen research articles collected from various
databases.
Hypothesis
Null hypothesis
Deodorants and antiperspirants are made up of aluminium and its compounds
as the main components.
Alternate hypothesis
Deodorants and antiperspirants are not made up of aluminium and its
compounds as the main components.
Aim and Objectives
The aim of this study is to discuss the analysis of aluminium content in
deodorants, in the form of literature review.
The objectives of this study are:
1. To determine the main constituents of antiperspirants and deodorants
2. To analyse the health effects of a high concentration of aluminium in deodorants
and antiperspirants.
Aluminium salts and biotoxicity
A very small Aluminium chlorohydrate (ACH) quantity has been found as an
active ingredient inside antiperspirants. This compound was labelled with a
radioisotope in order 26Al in order to measure the amount inside the chosen
deodorant. The labelled drug has been used in future studies for the measurement of
the aluminium absorption in the antiperspirants. A study successfully demonstrated

6Chemistry
that the use of radiolabelled aluminium ACH has resulted inside a uniformly labelled
complex5. Thus the measurement of this radiolabelled aluminium component inside
the deodorant has given the actual measurement of the amount of aluminium in the
deodorant. The ratio of radiolabelled aluminium collected from human blood was
found to be more than 400 Bq/g on an average. According to a publication of Health
& Wellbeing, it can be stated that the antiperspirants and deodorants in global
markets are booming2. Despite the ingredients being harmful, these products are still
sold in the market. Most of the deodorants use antiseptic ingredients like chlorine
and aluminium in order to kill the harmful and pathogenic microbes which live inside
the armpits. Antiperspirants have been found to block the sweat pores which
prevents the flow of nutrients from armpit which promotes the survival of microbes.
Most of the current compounds have been used to control the growth of microbes in
human armpits. However, aluminium has been found to be associated with the
causes of cancer and Alzheimer's disease7. Thus, the generation of aluminium free
antiperspirants has become important in order to prevent the occurrence of these
chronic health disorders. These are the overall findings of this article based on the
advent of effective aluminium free antiperspirants in place of general aluminium-
containing deodorants. From the seventy-two evenly spaced samples, uniformly
labelled aluminium (ACH) has been found to be present inside the deodorant. Al-26
has been found to be labelled (ACH) which has been absorbed by human blood after
they use the deodorants1. Aluminium has been observed as a highly toxic and
overload has been found to cause anaemia, dementia, and bone disease in patients
with renal function. Aluminium has been found as the compound leading to various
health hazards including Alzheimer’s disease. Compounds having aluminium has
been found to be widely used in the deodorants and as antacids for the therapy for
peptic and acidic diseases6. The use of phosphate binders during the treatment of
chronic kidney failure has been found to detect an increase in the plasma aluminium
levels of blood. A case report found that a woman has developed hyperaluminemia
in women after four years of constantly using deodorants and antiperspirants6. ACH
is a water-soluble aluminium complex which blocks the sweat secretory glands and
is associated with the transdermal uptake of aluminium slats which are potentially
harmful. Blockage of the sweat gland secretion is the major reasons for the
associated disease6. Figure 2 shows the level of plasma aluminium concentrations
from the patient blood.

7Chemistry
Fig 2: Plasma aluminium levels of the woman (patient)
Source: (6)
Use of aluminium compounds in antiperspirants and deodorants
Another research study stated that the use of deodorants has been increasing
because of the overproduction of sweaty skin and body odours which are unpleasant
in many social groups2. Body cleansing products have been designed in order to
fight the undesirable features associated with human skin. Deodorants are being
used in order to control the emotionally triggered sweating occurring in the human
armpit. Antiperspirants and deodorants have been designed in order to control the
malodour which is generated from the bacteria which are present in the modified
sweat. This paper successfully discussed the action mechanisms of deodorants and
antiperspirants which are described along with their efficacies2. This demonstration
has been successfully made by the use of different measurement methods to test
the efficacy of antiperspirants. Water evaporation and gravimetric methods are used
for the quantification of antiperspirants effectiveness which is measured by the
indirect support provided by the visualization of apocrine gland collection of sweat
after its excretion with volatile compounds. Axillary hyperhidrosis and bacterial
proliferation have been found to be controlled by cosmetic products. This was found
as a result of this research which indirectly measured the effectiveness of these
products. Aluminium and various other metallic slats have including zirconium helps
in the reduction of sweat by creating a mechanical obstruction to the eccrine sweat
duct. The portion of eccrine glands associated with the secretion of sweat is blocked

8Chemistry
by metallic salts like aluminium. This factor leads to the structural and functional
degeneration of sweat glands leading to a long term permanent loss of secretory
functions. In the year 1947, aluminium chlorohydrate was brought to the market
which was less effective and less irritating. Low concentrations of ACH, aluminium
sesquichlorohydrate, aluminium chlorohydrex and aluminium zirconium
tetracholrohydrate has been found by the researchers as the major component of
deodorants and antiperspirants. After going through this piece of literature, it can be
stated that deodorants and antiperspirants are composed of aluminium in a very high
amount but different forms. This is the overall conclusion which can be drawn from
this article3. An article states that activated aluminium chlorohydrate powder holds
36% of the total antiperspirant chemical constituents4. This compound is used as an
antiperspirant in the deodorants used in the sports field. Antiperspirants have been
primarily formulated in order to reduce the sweat amount which is produced by the
eccrine glands. Both polymeric and loosely hydrate aluminium chloride complexes
have been found to effectively block the eccrine glands. This factor has been found
as a result of other research articles stated before. ACH and aluminium-zirconium
chlorohydex-glycerine (AZG) has been found to be the drying agents used in
deodorants and antiperspirants4. A satisfactory aluminium containing chlorohydrate
complex has been sued in antiperspirant sticks. This compound has been used in
order to increase the pH of the solution astringent to make it compatible with soap.
According to some researchers, AHC is an electrolyte such as an alkaline salt which
mixes with alcohol to form alcogel7. The concentrations of this compound are varied
in order to produce a soft texture or a hard stick texture of the antiperspirant stick.
However, various research studies found that AHC solid gelling salts are not well
suited for antiperspirant sticks. However, due to a non-brittle texture, AHC is used
still as the principle astringent ingredient along with other alkaline salts in the gelling
agents for antiperspirant sticks. Thus, it can be stated that this patent paper proved
that AHC is one of the major components of antiperspirants10. Thus, it can be stated
that aluminium is an active ingredient of deodorants and antiperspirants because of
its ability to block the eccrine sweat glands. There is a range of allowed
concentrations of these compounds for using inside deodorants. When the
manufacturer crosses the range of this allowable concentration, health problems
associated with the sweat glands occurs. These are the overall findings of this

9Chemistry
research study which is based on the quantification of aluminium concentration in
deodorants.
Types of aluminium compounds are used in antiperspirants and
deodorants
The authors of a study did a one drop analysis with screen printed silver
electrodes in order to test the presence of aluminium chlorohydrate in selected
deodorants and antiperspirants5. Reduction of body odours has been found to occur
through the interactions with sweat glands in order to produce insoluble aluminium
hydroxide and free chloride that plugs the sweat glands to stop the sweat glands to
flow their secreted sweat. One drop (50 microliters) has been used in
electrochemical sensing associated with ACH which uses all the three inner surfaces
in the skin. On the silver surface, the liberated free chlorine ion was detected on the
surface at 0.072 Volt. The cyclic voltammetric technique has been used in order to
study the presence of aluminium in the chosen deodorants. Both the real and
standard sample showed similar types of the curve for the voltammetric assay
proving the fact that antiperspirants and deodorants consist of aluminium and its
associated compounds. This fact has been shown to be relevant from the figure
given below (Fig 1).
Fig 1: Standard vs Real sample voltammetry analysis curve
Source: (5)

10Chemistry
A standard basic aluminium compound is prepared in order to use it as a
major component of deodorants. Aqueous solutions of this compound are prepared
in order to use it as a major component of deodorant. The main correlation between
band area percentage and the aluminium concentration percentage has been found
to be high proving the fact that both the factors are interrelated12. The main
compound required for the inhibition of perspiration has been found to be an
aluminium compound with a chemical formula of Al2(OH)6-aXa. This element X can
be a halogen or any other metal which is released as an ion when the aluminium
compound successfully blocks the sweat pores. X has been found as chlorine,
Bromine or Iodine which is 0.3 to 0.4. The rate of perspiration reduction or the
effectiveness of antiperspirant, when treated with aluminium salt, has been
compared with the untreated group. The results showed that the treated group
showed higher effectiveness than the other group (Fig 5).
Fig 5: Effectiveness of antiperspirant of two groups
Source: (5)
Antiperspirants and deodorants have been designed in order to control the
malodour which is generated from the bacteria which are present in the modified
sweat. This paper successfully discussed the action mechanisms of deodorants and
antiperspirants which are described along with their efficacies14. This paper clearly
stated that a newly stabilized antiperspirant formed by the use of betaine as an
additive prevented the deactivation by polymerisation. This factor prevented the
occurrence of a negative impact on the efficacy of aluminium salts used in
antiperspirants. Thus, it can be stated that this research paper also proved that
aluminium salts combined with betaine is present in deodorants.

11Chemistry
Aluminium in antiperspirants- Reduction in content to prevent health
risks
Not only in deodorants, is aluminium present in lipsticks and sunscreens too.
Thus it can be said that aluminium is present in most of the cosmetics used by
people. In underarm cosmetic, ACH is the most active antiperspirant agent which
may constitute the primary exposure route to the human blood and act as a potential
damage source. The potential toxicity of Al has been shown in recent works and has
been argued by various research studies. According to other research studies, it can
be stated that aluminium is also responsible for causing breast cancer. Various
studies have been found to suggest the presence of Al in human breast which
influences a metastatic growth process. Cell toxicity has been stated to be caused by
Al and finally leading to cancer. This was a qualitative and in vitro study done to
identify the aluminium constituents of the human breast. These are the overall
findings of this research study8. Gel type emulsions and deodorants have been found
to be used by rubbing the body area such as the underarm in order to apply a
composition layer over the skin. This study successfully demonstrated that the use of
radiolabelled aluminium ACH has resulted inside a uniformly labelled complex. Thus
the measurement of this radiolabelled aluminium component inside the deodorant
has given the actual measurement of the amount of aluminium in the deodorant. This
composition has been found to consist of aluminium salts as the main antiperspirant
formulation factor. The oil phase refractive indices were found to be higher and thus
has been found to prove the fact that aluminium compounds are used in
antiperspirants13.
Summary
A guided inquiry was performed in a laboratory to determine the
concentrations of aluminium in deodorant brands. In most of the sample sources
including dove powder, lady speed stick and ban power, the concentration of
experimental Aluminium was nearly similar to the theoretical aluminium
concentration15. This factor proved that their analysis was correct and aluminium is
used as a major constituent of deodorants and other cosmetics. This factor can be
visualised in the tabularized results in Fig 6.