Deodorant

[1] The first commercial deodorant, Mum, was introduced and patented in the late nineteenth century by an inventor in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Edna Murphey.

Human perspiration of all types is largely odorless until its organic components are fermented by bacteria that thrive in hot, humid environments.

[citation needed] In 1888, the first modern commercial deodorant, Mum, was developed and patented by a U.S. inventor in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Edna Murphey;[2] the small company was bought by Bristol-Myers in 1931.

In the late 1940s, Helen Barnett Diserens developed an underarm applicator based on the newly invented ball-point pen.

First, in 1977 the U.S. Food and Drug Administration banned the active ingredient used in aerosols, aluminium zirconium chemicals, due to safety concerns over long term inhalation.

Second, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency limited the use of chlorofluorocarbon (CFC) propellants used in aerosols due to awareness that these gases can contribute to depleting the ozone layer.

[citation needed] In the United States, deodorants are classified and regulated as cosmetics by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA)[1] and are designed to eliminate odor.

Deodorants can be formulated with other, more persistent antimicrobials such as triclosan that slow bacterial growth or with metal chelant compounds such as EDTA.

Some of the first patented deodorants used zinc oxide, acids, ammonium chloride, sodium bicarbonate, and formaldehyde (which is now known as a carcinogen), and some of these ingredients were messy, irritating to the skin.

The plugs prevent the gland from excreting liquid and are removed over time by the natural sloughing of the skin.

Aluminium salts also have a slight astringent effect on the pores; causing them to contract, further preventing sweat from reaching the surface of the skin.

Methenamine in the form of cream or spray is effective in the treatment of excessive sweating and attendant odor.

[29] Deodorant crystals containing synthetically made potassium alum were found to be a weak irritant to the skin.

[23] The US Food and Drug Administration, in a 2003 paper discussing deodorant safety, concluded that "despite many investigators looking at this issue, the agency does not find data from topical and inhalation chronic exposure animal and human studies submitted to date sufficient to change the monograph status of aluminum containing antiperspirants", therefore allowing their use and stating they will keep monitoring the scientific literature.

[31] Members of the Scientific Committee on Consumer Safety (SCCS) of the European Commission concluded similarly in 2015, that "due to the lack of adequate data on dermal penetration to estimate the internal dose of aluminium following cosmetic uses, risk assessment cannot be performed.

Shaving cuts would be extremely unlikely to penetrate sufficiently beyond the very outer layers of the skin, for much if any product to enter the bloodstream.

[6] The myth circulates in two forms: It is possible that there has been confusion between sweat glands, and the lymph nodes deep within the armpits which form part of the immune system and help filter toxins, but if so, there is no evidence at all of such "blocking" of lymph nodes, nor any scientifically plausible route by which this could result from deodorant use.

[39][40] In controlled tests, spray deodorants have been shown to cause temperature drops of over 60 °C in a short period of time.

[39] Aluminium zirconium tetrachlorohydrex gly, a common antiperspirant, can react with sweat to create yellow stains on clothing.