Do deodorants cause breast cancer?
Many women have read an article on the internet linking deodorant and antiperspirant usage with breast cancer. 1 There was a plethora of articles on the internet, 2 3 chain emails, and publications in magazines mentioning a particular health seminar in the United States where findings were presented not only linking breast cancer to antiperspirants but claiming that the use of antiperspirants seemed to be the leading cause of breast cancer. 3 The explanation behind this theory was very simple. Toxins are purged in the form of perspiration. Antiperspirants, as the name suggests, prevent perspiration, thereby inhibiting the body from purging toxins from the axillary area. The toxins accumulate, and the body deposits them to the nearest place able to deal with their disposal-the axillary lymph nodes. Toxins in the area cause cell mutations, and, apparently because the breast is drained by this particular group of lymph nodes, this leads to cancer. Utter nonsense, of course, but ignorance
