Is Sweat-Off considered harmful?

The short answer is: No.

The amount of aluminium absorbed through the skin from antiperspirants like Sweat-Off is so minimal that it cannot harm the body.

How can we be so sure about that?

Sweat-Off works based on aluminium salts. Aluminium has repeatedly been suspected of being responsible for certain types of cancer or neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer’s.¹.

It is true that aluminium can be harmful to the body. However, for people to become ill, it would require very high doses over long periods of time.². It is almost impossible to absorb these in everyday life.

And that’s despite the fact that we take in aluminium every day, mostly through unprocessed foods such as fruit and vegetables, cereal products and cocoa – or even through the air.³. In contrast, absorption through aluminium-containing antiperspirants via the skin is very low.⁴. There is no scientifically reliable evidence that the absorption of typical amounts of aluminium increases the risk of disease in healthy individuals.⁵.

And what about the warnings from the Federal Institute for Risk Assessment?

In recent years, publications by the Federal Institute for Risk Assessment (BfR) caused quite a stir. Based on a few limited studies, it was estimated that aluminium-containing cosmetics, such as antiperspirants, contributed significantly to the body’s total aluminium intake. However, the BfR withdrew this warning in July 2020, after newer and more robust studies disproved the earlier findings. The institute acknowledged that ‘significantly less aluminium is absorbed through the skin (…) than previously estimated based on the limited data available.‘⁶

Sources: Some in German

1. Prakash et al., 2016 ↩︎
2. EFSA: Aguilar et al., 2008 ↩︎
3. Krewski et al., 2011 ↩︎
4. Letzel M, Drexler H, Göen T, Hiller J., 2020 ↩︎
5. Bericht des wissenschaftlichen Komitees für Verbrauchersicherheit der EU-Kommission (SCCS) ↩︎
6. Presseinformation: Bundesinstitut für Risikobewertung, 2020 ↩︎