A smelly business
Mary Rayner gets up close and personal with the deodorant industry...
There are two main types of deodorant: simple deodorants that work to
mask any nasty niffs, and anti-perspirants, which contain ingredients (most
commonly aluminium) which block pores to reduce sweating. All of the brands
with an Ethiscore of 10.5 or higher are deodorants rather than anti-perspirants.
Companies have played on our insecurities about getting smelly through clever
– you might say manipulative – advertising campaigns. Major deodorant
brands such as Lynx (just one spray and you’ll have women chasing you
through the streets, apparently) package spray-on-smells as the answer to
our love lives and general success as a human being. But just a quick glance
at the ingredients label on a conventional deodorant raises some important
questions.
Parabens
Parabens are a group of compounds widely used as anti-microbial preservatives
in food, pharmaceutical and cosmetics products, including underarm deodorants.
Research indicates that parabens are oestrogen mimics and that they can
penetrate the skin. However, the effect of daily low level exposure to parabens
in a number of different products is unknown.(1) Possible links have been
made to breast cancer, but research is inconclusive.
Although more research is needed into the effects of parabens, for those
who wish to err on the side of caution, the following brands are paraben-free:
Crystal, Dr Hauschka, Green People, JASON, Lush, Mitchum, PitRok, Tom’s
of Maine and Urtekram.
A spokesperson from Unilever stated that its Dove, Impulse and Lynx aerosol
deodorants and anti-perspirants were paraben free, but wasn’t clear
about the stick/roll-on products available under these brand names. Some
Sure deodorants contain parabens. Nivea spray, but not the roll-on, contains
parabens.(2)
Common names to watch out for on ingredient labels include: butyl/methyl/ethyl/
propyl/isobutyl paraben.(3)
Aluminium
Aluminium is a highly contested area. It’s used in a number of anti-perspirants
to plug the sweat glands – apparently staying there for anything up
to four days.(4) Although most major cosmetics companies attest to its safety,
a couple of studies have tentatively linked anti-perspirants to breast cancer.(5)
It’s alleged that as pores are blocked, the body cannot effectively
rid itself of toxins, resulting in the spread of cancer-causing toxins via
the lymph nodes. However, most cancer-causing substances are removed by
the kidneys and liver.(6) The lack of major scientific studies in this area
make it very hard for consumers to make a properly informed decision.
The aluminium compound usually found in anti-perspirants is aluminum chlorohydrate.
Avoiding anti-perspirants generally seems like a good idea. In addition
a number of the alternative deodorants companies have eliminated aluminium
from their products. So again, if you wish to err on the side of caution,
the following brands are free of the aluminium compound listed above:
Crystal, Dr Hauschka, Green People, JASON, Lush, PitRok, Tom’s of
Maine and Urtekram.
Other environmental impacts
Packaging will contribute to a great deal of the environmental impact of
deodorants. The Lush deodorant range, rather than coming in glass or plastic
containers, is sold in bars, rather like soap. It will be wrapped at the
checkout, but Lush states: “Of the cardboard and paper we use, approximately
90% of it is already made from recycled material.”(8)
Otherwise, try to buy deodorants that are packaged in glass, rather than
plastic, as they can be recycled more easily. The following come in glass
bottles:
Dr Hauschka, Pitrok (spray) and Urtekram.
Aerosol deodorants contain propellants – usually butane, isobutane
or propane – all of which are Volatile Organic Compounds (VOCs). They’re
not thought to be harmful in the small quantities that are used in aerosol
deodorants, however.
Unilever and palm oil
The company was confronted in 2006 by workers represented on the Unilever
European Works Council who were concerned about the possibility that it
was associated with Indonesian palm oil supplier Musim Mas. Musim Mas was
the subject of an international labour rights campaign after it was accused
of “the mass firing of union members, eviction from their homes, the
expulsion of children from their schools and the use of the police and judicial
system to criminalise legitimate trade union activity.”(9) Unilever’s
“Sustainable Agriculture Manager”, Jan Kees Vis, is the Executive
President of the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO). The IUF –
an international federation of trade unions – has directed scathing
criticism at the RSPO for denying it has any responsibility for dealing
with Musim Mas repression.(10) The IUF has stated: “Musim Mas trampled
rights and broke the law, and the IUF [is] determined to fight for justice
for these workers. As long as it refuses to take action within its own organization,
the RSPO will remain the target of public action and protests.”(9)
If you’d like to express your concern over this issue, you can write
to Unilever using the address given in the Action Page of the bind-in of
this issue.
Links
- British Union for the Abolition of Vivisection (BUAV) www.buav.org,
info@buav.org, 020 7700 4888
- Campaign for Safe Cosmetics www.safecosmetics.org,
info@safecosmetics.org
- International Union of Food Workers (IUF) For information on Unilever
and Indonesian palm oil supplier Musim Mas
www.iuf.org, iuf@iuf.org,
Rampe du Pont-Rouge, 8, CH-1213, Petit-Lancy, Switzerland
- Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil www.rspo.org,
rspo@rspo.org, Mont Kiara Business Centre, Suite D-03-01, Plaza Mont Kiara,
2, Jalan Kiara, 50480 Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
References
1 Women’s Environmental Network, “Chemicals and Cosmetics Factsheet”,
September 2003 2 ECRA shop survey, 18/1/07 3 www.safecosmetics.org/faqs/#paraben_free,
18/1/07 4 www.unilever.com, 18/1/07 5 www.easylivingmagazine.com/Beauty/TruthOrScare/antiperspirants/default.aspx,
18/1/07 6 www.cancer.org, 18/1/07 7 www.greenpeople.co.uk, 18/1/07 8 Email
from Lush, 16/1/07 9 CSR Asia Weekly: Vol 2 week 18, 3/5/06 10 www.iuf.org,
“Round and Round the Roundtable: RSPO Washes its Hands of Corporate
Brutality”, 21/3/06 11 www.buav.org, 1/07 12 PETA – Companies
that test on animals, 1/07 13 Naturewatch Compassionate Shopping Guide 10th
Edition, 2005 14 WRM Bulletin, 2002 15 HJ Heinz Annual Report 2006 16 www.henkel.com,
11/04 17 www.boycottpandg.co.uk, 7/06 18 BUAV Cosmetic Companies Guide,
11/04