No major medical or environmental study has shown that aluminum zirconium, a common ingredient in anti-perspirant, increases the risk for any disease, including breast cancer and Alzheimer's Disease. There are widespread beliefs, however, that caused the urban myth to circulate on email lists and message boards that use of anti-perspirants among women caused breast cancer. However, more precise and controlled studies remain to be pursued to fully understand the role that chemical aluminum plays in our health.

According to the story, aluminum zirconium was blocking toxins from escaping through the armpits, and causing them to accumulate in the lymph nodes near the breast. However, this is a non-scientific explanation that usually accompanies a promotion of an alternative kind of anti-perspirant or deodorant. For some people, using an anti-perspirant without this chemical reduces their skin allergy, but this has nothing to do with cancer. Of course, such a correlation might use methods other than lymph node toxicity to link deodorants to breast cancer at some time in the future.

More compelling is the link between certain aluminum compounds and Alzheimer's Disease. Again, research in this field remains in its infancy. Medical experts do not know what causes Alzheimer's, and are exploring many avenues of research. The most they have discovered is that some forms of aluminum, when present in the brain, can cause the type of neurological damage associated with Alzheimer's Disease. This tells them they need to perform more studies to explore the role of unnaturally high aluminum concentrations in the body.

Aluminum levels in Americans is on the rise. Yet we absorb the most aluminum through water and processed food, not through our skin from hygiene products. Both the National Institute of Environmental Health and the National Institute of Health are working to lay to rest these exaggerated and fallacious rumors circulating on the internet by educating people on how scientists establish links between environmental factors and disease. High levels of aluminum do not necessarily cause disfunction.