Little Black Dress Approved
Jul 31st, 2008 by GreenBroad
It just so happened that I was out doing a promotion over the weekend. One of the products that I had crossed paths with was “Little Black Dress Approved” (deodorant/anti-persperaint). Being the label reader that I am, I flipped the package around to find this: “Ask a doctor before use if you have kidney disease”. What?? Since when are my kidneys next to my armpits?
I was so bothered by this that I started to look through the cabinets in the bathroom - searching through deodorant that may or may not have been used. I found my almost empty Secret, my hubby’s Old Spice, and lo and behold, it said the same thing too. YIKES!! I know that we don’t have kidney disease, but will excessive use make us get it?
Everyone uses deodorant! Who thinks to look at the warnings? I sure as hell don’t. Well, I take that back…. since the first of the year I really have started to look. In fact I purchased a “mineral stick” deodorant - which you have to wet before applying. It doesn’t stop the sweat, but I think it neutralizes the smell. Not sure yet? It’s supposed to last one year. For $5 I thought it was worth a shot. But I wouldn’t wear that on my wedding day - that’s for sure.
Thoughts anyone?
I did some snooping….sure it is one sided but this is what antiperspirantinfo.com had to say:
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What is the link between antiperspirants and kidney disease? (Most deodorant bottles will say “ask doctor before use if you have kidney disease?”) Do the active ingredients in deodorants/antiperspirants promote kidney disease?
Antiperspirant and deodorant ingredients are not associated in any way with promoting kidney disease. The kidneys play an important role in allowing the body to rid itself of things it doesn’t need. A consequence of kidney disease can be that the body struggles in this function.
One element that the body comes into contact with everyday is aluminium, which is naturally and abundantly present in food, drink and the environment generally. Generally speaking, aluminium is perfectly safe and is easily processed through the kidneys, but when someone has kidney disease their body can struggle to cope with it. It is for this reason that the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) enforces labelling on products like oral antacids which contain large amounts of aluminium. Antiperspirant ingredients only contain a small amount of aluminium (less than 2.5% of the amount that people come into contact with every day) and as a way of raising awareness of the dangers faced by kidney disease sufferers, the FDA has recently suggested that people with kidney disease talk to their doctor before using an antiperspirant.
For further information you may like to read the link below to the fact sheet from the Northwest Kidney Centre in Washington, USA which states that “…they do not believe that antiperspirants are placing people with kidney disease at particular risk.”
Useful links:
http://www.nwkidney.org/images/website/docs/warning.pdf
http://www.nwkidney.org/home/warning.html