Common endocrine disruptors in deodorants

Do you have migraines, excessive menstrual bleeding or fibroids?  Toxins in everyday products may be causing problems.  Here are the common endocrine disruptors in deodorants to watch for.

Symptoms

If you’ve been dealing with:

• Migraines
• Heavy periods
• Fibroids
• Acne

You may be suffering from toxic overload because of endocrine disruptors in your deodorant.  Yes, an everyday product like deodorant may be the problem.  Don’t get me wrong, I’m not saying that this one product is causing your problems.  Likely, it’s a culmination of products and an accumulation of toxins that have caused your issues.  Today, though, we’ll focus on deodorant.

What are endocrine disruptors?

In a word:  toxins.  Basically, ingredients in skin care products act like natural hormones.  When these are absorbed in your body, they act like hormones that our bodies make naturally.  When this happens, your body is tricked into thinking that it has too much of a certain hormone.  This can lead to something called estrogen dominance, which then causes some of the symptoms I mentioned above.

What to do?

Knowing that these ingredients may be lurking in your home, it would be a good idea to start reading and paying attention to what you are using on your body (as well as what other things you are buying to clean your home or eat…but we’ll get to that).  But it can be overwhelming so that is why I wanted to start with the common endocrine in deodorants

Common hormone disruptors in deo

Let’s take one example of a deodorant I used to use on a regular basis.  I started to use this product because it didn’t have the aluminum in it.  Aluminum has been linked to Alzheimer’s disease so I thought switching to this product was better for me.  And, in a way, it was since it did not contain the aluminum.  However, looking at the ingredient list, this product isn’t ideal:

• Propylene Glycol (vegetable derived)
• Water
• Sodium Stearate
• Sodium Bicarbonate (baking soda)
• Coriandrum Sativum (Coriander) Fruit Oil
• Rosmarinus Officinalis (Rosemary) Leaf Oil
• Lavandula Hybrida (Lavandin) Oil
• Fragrance
• Ethylhexylglycerine
• Octenidine HCL
• Tetrasodium EDTA
• Allantoin

Let’s now take a look at the toxins from that list:

1. Propylene Glycol – this ingredient is commonly used in skin care products.  (It’s also found in many other household products.)  It can cause damage your organs and can affect your ability to conceive.  Don’t believe me?  Check out this addendum from the CDC.  It goes on to talk about dermatological effects from the use of propylene glycol.  While not everyone will have a reaction to one ingredient, it’s the accumulation of this toxin that you should consider.
2. Essential oils like Coriander fruit oil, Rosemary leaf oil, and Lavandin oil – we may think essential oils are safe but they should always be used with caution.
3. Fragrance – this is a generic term so you can never be sure what this is.  Generally, these include phthalates and benzene derivatives.  These are both very bad and can cause allergic reactions and headaches / migraines.
4. Ethylhexylglycerine – I can’t even pronounce this word so that’s a red flag right there.  This is a skin irritant – surprising, right?
5. Octenidine HCL – another one I can’t pronounce!
6. Tetrasodium EDTA – can cause cancer, can be toxic to organs, and absorbs through the skin – even in small doses.
7. Allantoin – can cause toxic build up in the liver.  Liver detox anyone?

As you can see, a majority of the ingredients can be toxic.  Many of these are listed as “generally safe to use”; however, if these ingredients are in much of the products we use on our skin and are included in other products, we are getting a much higher exposure than intended.  This is the exact reason why we need to pay attention to labels.  I know it’s daunting so that is why I wanted to point it out in single products.

Cost

How much does this all cost you?  The deodorant itself will cost around $3.00 but the health effects could be devastating in the long run.  You decide what’s worth it to you.

To do today

Go to your bathroom and look at your deodorant.  Are any of these ingredients in your deodorant?  Do you suffer from migraines, headaches, fibroids, acne or heavy periods?  Decide if you want to continue to use that deodorant.  If you decide you want to change deodorants, good for you.  You can even make your own deodorant!