Prevodorant

In the words of Jimmy Fallon and guests: ”Ew!”

Transdermal absorption describes the passage of chemicals and drugs that we put on our skin through the dermal and subdermal layers and into our bodies; specifically our blood, fat, and lymph cells.

That’s unfortunate! But it’s good that we know how it works.

Here’s the low-down…

First; it really happens, and it is simultaneously a curse and a blessing. Dr. Gerald Kasting at the University of Cincinnati was the lead researcher on sequential studies published in 2005 and 2007 demonstrating how it works using an engineering model. His research was primarily focused on how a pharmaceutical manufacturer might be able to help a drug dependent patient with a curable malady to get drugs they need into their blood or lymph without having to use needles. The flipside is that chemicals and drugs that are bad for us can also get through into our bodies. It follows that we should know what we are putting on our skin.

Second, we should exercise deliberate caution, but not be overly alarmed. Only molecules small enough to finish the passage into blood, fat, and lymph cells will get into do the harm (or good, as it is). But admittedly, a lot of chemicals and drugs are small enough (and have the right weight and polarity — more on that after I understand it better myself) to get through. Fragrances are a category of chemicals that are very powerful; some of which are small enough for absorption, and some of which are not. 

So what did they learn? Axilla (armpit) and “privates” skin are the MOST porous areas of skin on our bodies. That directly relevant to the R&D that led to our products of course. But it is not 100% of chemicals applied there that get through. Kasting, et al, found that about 4% of the applied chemicals & drugs got through the skin grafts. What does that mean for you? Every product is different, so we can’t say, but consider the following generic observation: IF every ingredient in your deodorant stick was of small enough molecular size, after applying 25 deodorant sticks, one of those sticks would be floating around in your body. How does your body get rid of those chemicals? I’m not sure science has all the answers. Some will certainly NOT be healthy for you. The author knows of one person who had to have a “tumor” removed from her armpit, which surgery she requested in fear she had metastatic breast cancer. It was benign enough (not cancerous; although it may have had the potential to start rogue cellular replication patterns in the future if not removed), and her surgeon informed her that such lumpectomies of deodorant ingredients which get through the skin are not as uncommon as she might presume. Not to try to scare you into purchasing SbK products, but it woke me up.