The Topical Drug We Apply Every Day

Illustration from pbskids.org

I was putting on antiperspirant one day and I noticed that the label was one of those peel-off kind that says "Drug Facts Inside."  Drug facts?  It's deodorant!  Well, it turns out the active ingredient is aluminum zirconium tetrachlorohydrex gly 15.4%.  (AZG) This is what causes yellow stains on clothing. It's not the sweat--it's the deodorant, or more specifically, the AZG in the deodorant.

I don't know if it's bad for you or not. I do know that so-called "Natural" deodorants don't use it. We have also found the natural deodorants not to be as effective against odor or sweat, at least not on a healthy, active male body.

However, my husband has an allergic reaction to any kind of aluminum in deodorant, so he just has to put up with sweat. Sometimes the odor of that bothers my sensitive nose, but through trial and error we have learned that a combination of a daily shower, a natural deodorant, and Power Spray seem to do the trick.  Power Spray, not Power Stick. 
Though they are made by the same company, Power Stick is another aluminum-based deodorant. 

We found Power Spray at Dollar Tree, of all places. There is a choice of scents; we bought two different ones that I like. This is not an ad for Power Spray, nor a rant about AZG deodorants. I still wear my lovely powder-fresh antiperspirant, even while wondering about the effects of the AZG on my body. 

Incidentally, the "inactive" ingredients of my particular brand are nearly as scary sounding as AZG:
Elaeis guineensis (palm) kernel oil
Stearyl alcohol
Cyclomethicone
C12-15 alkyl benzoate
PPG-14 butyl ether
Hydrogenated castor oil
Hydrogenated soybean oil
PEG-8 Distearate
Fragrance (made of what???) 
Hydrolized Corn Starch
behenyl alcohol