Deodorants and antiperspirants damage the natural skin flora

Deodorant and antiperspirant change the community of our smallest organisms
The benefits of deodorants and antiperspirants are unmistakable. Unpleasant body odor is reliably suppressed by such products. So we do not have to endure the stinking vapors of other people all day long. However, such remedies also have disadvantages, researchers said in a recent study.
There are countless deodorant products that help us suppress our body odor. However, this freshness could also bring disadvantages. Deodorant affects our microbiome, the community of our tiny organisms made of bacteria, viruses and fungi. The more we use antiperspirants, the more we change the microbial community that lives among our poor. Thus, bad-smelling bacteria are eliminated, but we also make room for new bacteria. The scientists from North Carolina Central University published the results of their current research in the journal "Peerj".

Deodorants damage the skin flora. Image: arizanko - fotolia

Deodorant causes many positive Corynebacteria to die
Although deodorant helps us to smell better, it harms the community of organisms that live under our arms. We all have microbes on our skin, most of them are potentially positive or at least benign, says co-author Julie Horvath. These microbes do nothing except perhaps create a protective barrier on the skin, adds the physician. The benevolent bacteria are also called Corynebacteria and are usually responsible for the body odor. When we use deodorant, we eliminate unpleasant body odors by preventing our glands from producing sweat. As a result, many of the bacteria die. Horvath and her colleagues wanted to find out how axillary bacteria are altered by such products. In addition, the scientists wanted to determine how the bacteria population recovers when the use of deodorant is discontinued.

Small study examines concentration of bacteria on our skin
For their small study, the research team examined seventeen men and women who had either used deodorant, antiperspirant, or neither for eight days on a regular basis. On the first day of the study, the researchers took samples from the participants to obtain information about their typical microbial community. Afterwards, they instructed the participants not to use deodorant products for the next five days. So the scientists wanted to determine which types of microbes regrow again. On the eighth day, participants were instructed to use antiperspirant, after which the researchers took one final sample.

People who did not use deodorant products tended to have larger populations of Corynebacteria bacteria and fewer Staphylococcaceae bacteria. Ten percent of the sampled bacteria were unidentifiable species. Deodorant users had a higher number of axillary bacteria on the first day, and more Staphylococcaceae could be found during the week than in the other two groups. Only five percent of the bacteria could not be identified by the researchers. Regular antiperspirant users had nearly as many Staphylococcaceae bacteria as the deodorant group and more than twenty percent of their microbes were unidentifiable.

Hygiene habits have an impact on microbial communities
It is difficult to assess whether products are harmful to sweat or useful for our microbial activity, says Horvath. But the examination was too small, adds the doctor. The unidentifiable species prone to regrowth in people carrying antiperspirant are probably harmless. Most species of Staphylococcaceae are also safe, although some may be harmful, explains the researcher. The scientists found that the users of deodorant and antiperspirant were the fastest growing microbes again. Our hygiene habits affect our microbe communities. Wearing a deodorant product affects the microbes under our arm, but the short- and long-term consequences are still unclear, explains the doctor. More research on this topic is needed. (As)