Consumers can take up aluminium compounds from various sources, including antiperspirants containing aluminium.
Consumers can take up aluminium compounds from various sources, including antiperspirants containing aluminium. As stated in the BfR Opinion of 2019 (045/2019) on aluminium intake, the total burden resulting from all sources of exposure is too high in some population groups. This finding is not affected by the current reassessment of the contribution of aluminium chlorohydrate in antiperspirants, a product group that is used daily.
Their contribution to the total aluminium burden is significantly lower than previously assumed. This is the result of the current risk assessment by the German Federal Institute for Risk Assessment (BfR). BfR President Professor Dr. Dr. Andreas Hensel: “Significantly less aluminium is absorbed through skin than previously calculated on the basis of the limited data available at the time.” BfR assessed absorption via the skin, i.e. dermal absorption, of aluminium salts for the first time in 2014. “At that time, we pointed out the substantial scientific uncertainty surrounding the data and drew attention to the urgent need for research,” continued Hensel.
In the meantime, two human studies addressing those data gaps were conducted in 2016 and 2019. Only the latter was able to produce findings to support reassessment. Therefore, reliable data became only available five years after the BfR's request for a scientifically reliable skin absorption study. Hensel: “In this case, our current risk assessment also shows just how dynamic the scientific process can be on certain issues, and that it remains a matter of continuously reducing existing uncertainties by closing data gaps.”
Read more at BfR Federal Institute For Risk Assessment
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