Antiperspirants 101

People tend to interchange the words "antiperspirant" and "deodorant," but as regulated by the FDA, they are not the same. Antiperspirants have an aluminum-based compound as their main, "active" ingredient, which can be any number of compounds within an established concentration and dosage form. The active ingredient gives antiperspirants their sweat-blocking ability by forming a temporary plug within the sweat duct that stops the flow of sweat to the skin's surface.

The aluminum-based compound is always the first ingredient listed on the back of an antiperspirant container. A few common active ingredients are aluminum chloride, aluminum chlorohydrate, and aluminum zirconium. An "inactive" is any ingredient besides the active ingredient. Some of the inactive ingredients in an antiperspirant include talc, fragrance, and butane, used as an aerosol propellant.

With so many choices available, how do people choose a product that's right for them?

"Looking for a favorite scent is a great way for a consumer to narrow down the search," says Michelle Vaeth, a spokeswoman at Cincinnati-based Procter & Gamble Co. Product development, she says, is constantly driven by what consumers want, and the consumer products company regularly conducts detailed home interviews, quantitative questionnaires, and surveys to get this information.

Another factor is aesthetics, or how a product feels when applied to the skin. "Maybe a woman enjoys the cooling sensation of a clear gel and loves the fact that there's no residue," Vaeth says. Roll-ons tend to have a wet, cool, refreshing feeling upon application, and Vaeth says that many people like how this product feels on their skin after it dries — "they can tell it's still there and working."

Jonathan Hague and Cindy Dumlao, who both work in product development with Unilever, an Anglo-Dutch consumer products company, agree that people tend to go with products they trust. "They want good, high-performance products," says Hague, "and what our consumers think is important to us."

So important, Dumlao adds, that Unilever keeps a database of 18,000 consumers who come to participate in the effectiveness of antiperspirant formulas at the company's clinical and consumer testing facility.

"Basically," she says, "we put people in a hot room, about 100 degrees Fahrenheit, with a relative humidity of 35 percent, and collect their sweat."

The facility is also where "new formulations and fragrances are discovered," says Hague. In his experience, "stick antiperspirants appear to be the preferred dosage form in North America."

Many factors control how effective an antiperspirant is, such as the type and size of the active ingredient used in the formulation.

"Different actives have different levels of effectiveness at stopping sweating," says Timothy J. Long, Ph.D., a scientist with P&G Beauty. The active ingredient also must be pH balanced — basic enough, Long says, not to cause irritation to the skin, but acidic enough to form the solid plugs in the sweat ducts.

The antiperspirant effectiveness test required by the FDA determines that a product is effective or ineffective in its final formulation. But, says Holman, "we do not have any data that suggest any dosage form is better than another." He also says there's a lot of variability between dosage forms. An antiperspirant in finished form may vary in degree of effectiveness because of minor variations in formulation, or in individual interpretation of the directions for its use.

For example, while a product label may instruct the user to hold a can of aerosol six inches from the underarm and then spray, Holman says, how long each person sprays, swipes, glides, wipes, or rolls will vary. Therefore, the directions don't directly reflect the conditions of effectiveness. But Holman adds that consumers can be assured that products are effective whether they are gels, sticks, aerosols, or others, if they pass the FDA's test.

Antiperspirants and the FDA

"People feel that those products on the shelf are a direct reflection of what we regulate," says Holman. "But mostly, it's based on what's selling."

Like prescription drugs, the FDA oversees OTC drugs to ensure that they are properly labeled and that their benefits outweigh their risks. OTC drugs account for more than 100,000 products on the market that involve about 800 active ingredients. The FDA classifies these nonprescription drugs by treatment category, such as laxatives, antacids, and antiperspirants, and evaluates their ingredients. So, rather than review thousands of individual antiperspirant products, the FDA evaluates the far fewer active ingredients found in them.

Most OTC drugs are subject to rules called monographs, which state requirements for categories of nonprescription drugs, such as what ingredients may be used and for what intended use. If the standards of the OTC monograph are met, premarket approval of a potentially new OTC product is not necessary.

Pages: 1   2   3  

Tags: Health

About the Author

FDA is A United States government body that oversees medical devices, including contact lenses, intraocular lenses, excimer lasers and eyedrops. In the US, these products must be approved by the FDA before they can be marketed.