Here at dandi London we are increasingly aware of the fact that our products need to be in line with your wants and needs and also that they need to be as healthy as they possibly can be. During the development phase of the dandi London products it became more and more prevalent that aluminium is an ingredient we didn’t wish to use in our products. This was due to the increase in research around its potential harm to the human body. In recent years aluminium has been linked to breast cancer in numerous studies across the world. In addition to this, the use of aluminium based products are not recommended to be used when breast cancer patients are undergoing their treatment.

This may be a very grey area for some so let’s start by talking a bit about aluminium. The following information has been written based upon factual information found on the Breastcancer.org.uk website.

What is aluminium and what products can it be found in?

Aluminium salts are the active ingredients used in antiperspirants. Salts commonly used include aluminium chloride, aluminium chlorohydrate, and aluminium zirconium chlorohydrate complexes. They may be listed in ingredients as “natural mineral salts”, “natural rock salts”, or “potassium alum” (potassium aluminium sulphate).

How can aluminium be harmful to the body?

Aluminium compounds act by blocking sweat ducts under the arm. This prevents sweat from escaping onto the skin surface and reduces the moist environment in which odour causing bacteria multiply. Antiperspirants are a specific type of deodorant. Other types of deodorants may contain perfume to mask the smell and antimicrobial agents (parabens) to inhibit bacterial growth - as it's the bacteria on the skin's surface that generates the smell from sweat.

What is the evidence to suggest that aluminium is linked to breast cancer?

Whilst no studies have demonstrated a direct causal link between breast cancer and aluminium there are certainly issues at hand that could support the claim that aluminium has something to do with the manipulation of cells prone to breast cancer.

Cell culture studies have shown that human breast cells can turn into a cancerous phenotype following exposure to aluminium chloride, and exposure of human breast cancer cells to aluminium chloride and aluminium chlorohydrate can make cells more vulnerable. Mortality from breast cancer is mainly associated with tumour spread, which depends on cancer cells developing motility rather than being aggravated by aluminium or parabens.

Lifetime exposure to oestrogen is an established risk factor for breast cancer and aluminium chloride and aluminium chloralhydrate have been shown to act as metal oestrogens, capable of interfering with oestrogen action and under certain conditions stimulating responses associated with natural oestrogen.

The following study is referenced on the ‘breast cancer awareness’ charity page and has been inserted into this blog to reinforce the above statements made on aluminium.

“A recent invitro study found long term exposure to aluminium chloride at environmentally relevant concentrations could cause mammary cells to become cancerous and capable of forming tumours.

A systematic review which aimed to estimate risk of deodorant/antiperspirant use for breast cancer concluded that although there was no evidence of risk, insufficient studies had been undertaken to obtain reliable results. A study published recently, which examined self-reported underarm cosmetic product use and breast cancer diagnosis, did find an association between long-term use of underarm cosmetics and an increase in breast cancer risk. Furthermore, underarm cosmetic use was associated with higher concentrations of aluminium chloride in breast tissue”.

To conclude this blog, the team at dandi London spent a lot of time researching potential harmful ingredients during our development stage and felt that with our customers at heart, we didn’t want to use anything that was potentially harmful. We found a way to prevent sweat marks from the wetness of sweat and trap the smell of armpit odours, relieving the embarrassing effects of sweat, without the use of aluminium or parabens! This now gives people the opportunity to avoid products containing those if they want to.

We hope this blog has been informative during breast cancer awareness month and that we have managed to reach out and educate people on this topic.