NATURAL ANTIPERSPIRANT

Sweating is a natural function of the human body, allowing the body to cool itself as sweat emerges from glands and evaporates. This process may produce odours, since bacteria present on the skin also break down sweat proteins. A deodorant kills the bacteria that produce the odour, while an antiperspirant clogs sweat ducts to prevent sweat from emerging in the first place. This clogging is commonly achieved by the use of metallic salts, however there has been an ongoing debate as to whether or not these metallic salts contribute to heath risks.

Associate Professor Jonathan Boreyko has just made a significant breakthrough in the study of natural antiperspirants based on the theory that if sweat can begin to evaporate while still inside the sweat duct, before it emerges onto the skin, the sweat’s own minerals will crystallise to clog the duct. In other words, the mixture of sodium, chloride, potassium, calcium, urea, and bicarbonates naturally present in sweat can do the same work as the metallic salts used in commercial antiperspirants. “Our research has discovered the most natural antiperspirant in existence: the minerals within the sweat itself! It is exciting to find that simply making the sweat evaporate faster can cause natural mineral plugs that have the potential of replacing metal-based products in the future,” says Boreyko. The next step involves applying the theory using, for example, a wearable adhesive that facilitates the natural clogging from the body’s own sweat.