sunscreens.  It is oxybenzone.

Many years ago I read some reports or articles, probably in
newspapers, that said that studies had shown that aluminum, one of
the active/key ingredients in most (at the time) antiperspirants, was
a contributor to dementia and Alzheimers.  Most if not all basic
deodorants do not contain aluminum (or whatever aluminum derivative
they use).  I have always used a deodorant that does not contain
aluminum, but I have occasionally wondered over the years what, if
anything, became of those studies and if further research continued
to indicate a potential risk with aluminum in products like
antiperspirants.

C. Marin Faure
GB36-403 "La Perouse"
Bellingham, Washington

Offlist...

You're right to question it.  It's a funny side of "science" that is
sometimes used to prove something that might not really exist.

The original and verified findings are that the people with Alzheimer's
have a higher concentration of aluminum in their brains than people
without it.  The testing was pretty complete because they actually
dissected a lot of brains after the subjects died and did simple
correlation statistics.  There's really no question that people who die
with Alzheimer's have more aluminum.

None of the studies that I've seen go the next step - how does the
aluminum get there?  Correlation does not mean "cause and effect" - they
are two completely different things.  Some people started pushing the
idea that you shouldn't cook with aluminum pans - or use most
antiperspirants.  It's hard to really know for sure - it's one of those
things that you need to judge for yourself.  One of the major issues
with this is that there are companies who profit if there is scientific
evidence that aluminum is bad so you have to be careful about where the
data comes from.  It is very common for these studies to be used so the
reader thinks there is a cause and effect when there really isn't one.

There's one really excellent example of this that has happened.  Years
ago there was a study showing that drinking Coke causes osteoporosis.
The more Coke you drink, the worse your condition is.  Now I'm no fan of
Coke but the science was all wrong about that.  It showed a definite
correlation in the data - there was no question about it.  But in this
case, enough money was put into a full study to show what the real
cause-and-effect was: people who drink Coke drink less milk.  Drinking
less milk was the real cause and it didn't actually matter if Coke,
Pepsi, or orange juice was the "bad guy."  Of course, competitors of
Coke used this study for quite a few years and I still see it show up
every now and then.

Cheers!

...Jeff