Antiperspirants used to combat body odor and sweat could actually make some people smell worse.
A small scale study conducted by the University of Ghent found both antiperspirants and deodorants could alter the community of bacteria living in armpits; antiperspirants could even cause the "microbiome" to produce a more offensive odor, the Huffington Post reported.
Today more than 90 percent of Americans use some type of armpit product, the Washington Post reported. The armpit cosmetic industry is worth about $18 billion.
In the study eight healthy men and women between the ages of 23 and 29 were asked not to use antiperspirant or deodorant for about a month. Bacteria was monitored "before, during, and after" the study, the Huffington Post reported.
"The armpit microbiome changed considerably when starting or stopping the use of deodorants and antiperspirants," the study's lead author, Chris Callewaert, a Ph.D. candidate at the university and creator of the DrArmpit.com website told the Huffington Post.
The team found that while the number of bacteria in the subjects' armpits didn't fall, the diversity did change. When antiperspirants were used more odor-forming bacteria came to the scene.
Some researchers don't buy the idea that antiperspirant can make a person smellier, and believe more research is needed on the subject.
"While this small study is suggestive, more research, with larger sample sizes, is definitely needed before drawing conclusions and making broad recommendations regarding the use of deodorants and antiperspirants," Dr. Elizabeth Grice, a professor of dermatology at the University of Pennsylvania, told The Huffington Post.
"It is not bacteria alone that cause odor," Grice said. "You need sweat first. The antiperspirant functions to prevent the sweat. So if you remove the food source [in this case perspiration], you remove the odor."
The research was published in the July 31 edition of Archives of Dermatological Research.
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