Talk:Ammonium alum

Off-topic
Rob TB writes: ''' And it works a treat ! '''

I had not heard of this substance before my girlfriend, who is Japanese, bought me an Alum crystal to try out. I have to admit I'm very impressed by the results, as I found that aerosol deodorants, despite their claims of 24hr protection generally fall short in the toxic neighbourhood of my armpits!

For best results, apply after showering. Either apply the dampened crystal directly to the area to be treated, or crush up a small amount of crystal, mix with water and spray using a vaporisor spray.

I prefer the latter method as it more economical, but I definitely got a kick out of using a rock to make myself smell better !!

It makes me wonder why we bother with aerosols when we have a natural, ecological alternative that is also so plentiful? Ah, how could I forget? $$$$€€€£££££......

I really hope that REACH gets a hold of this and the truth will come out about all the "harmless chemicals" that go into making our advanced western alternatives !

Sorry, I appear to have gone off topic, but I wanted to get it off my chest :-)

This could be redirect to Tawas Bay and East Tawas. Pavel Vozenilek 14:39, 7 September 2006 (UTC)


 * I disagree. 24.73.9.232 19:16, 14 April 2007 (UTC)

the f-word
The f-word article says that toxins are excreted from the body through sweat. This idea was spread by a hoax email linking antiperspirants and breast cancer. The article is unscientific, although it might be useful to explain the attitude of those who use ammonium alum based deodorants. This article is far better: bbb http://www.cancer.org/docroot/MED/content/MED_6_1x_Antiperspirants.asp 67.168.61.168 00:05, 10 June 2007 (UTC)

Question about solubility products and skin absorption
I am questioning the claim that ammonium alum cannot be absorbed into skin. That is probably true of the crystal form, but the crystal is solubile in water and breaks down into ionic components. If this substance is applied to arm pits (warm, moist areas of the skin) I suspect you will find ionic components from the parent crystal structure there. The Aluminum will most likely bind to OH- molecules making Al(OH)3 molecules. However, I question whether Al+3 (aluminum ion) can be absorbed into the skin. There seems to be no discussion of this in any of the articles pertaining to this substance. Why would this aluminum be any different from the Alumium found in the Aluminum Chloride compounds used in conventional anti-perspirants? I don't know the answer, but I would like to know it.

MSDS page for aluminum ammonium sulfate (i.e., alum): http://www.jtbaker.com/msds/englishhtml/a2760.htm

74.126.1.33 15:20, 21 August 2007 (UTC) 74.126.1.33 15:35, 21 August 2007 (UTC)

Answer from http://groups.google.com/group/misc.consumers.frugal-living/browse_thread/thread/dbd7920fd250f648

"The active ingredients in the mineral salts crystals are: Magnesium Chloride, Sodium Chloride, Calcium Chloride, Potassium Chloride, Bromide, Sulphates, and Bicarbonate

The active ingredient in commercial *anti-perspirants* is aluminum chloride. This is the ingredient that people are trying to avoid -- but notice that it is NOT an ingredient in mineral salts.

Yes, they are all salts, but no they don't work in the same way. I checked with my mother (who is a biochemist and the author of two Biochemistry textbooks and who teaches biochemistry at Temple Medical School in Philadelphia) and she said that mineral salts would create a salty environment in which bacteria could not survive, thereby stopping the cycle which creates the odor -- not, however, stopping sweating and moisture. Aluminum chloride causes the body not to release moisture where it has been topically applied. Without moisture the bacteria don't grow.

Two different actions. Two different ingredients. " —Preceding unsigned comment added by 71.231.60.42 (talk) 22:55, 19 September 2008 (UTC)

Molecules are too big to enter sweat glands?
When I showed a friend of mine this Wikipedia article (he is a university chemistry professor), he replied:

Sweat glands carry out salt from the body. I do not believe that the diameter of a sweat pore is on the molecular (angstrom) scale, but is significantly larger. Since ammonium alum is a salt that dissolves (dissociates) in water, its ions are on the molecular scale, thus they can enter the sweat glands. So because of this process it in a sense cancels out the odor and bacteria that can build up in the arm pit.

--Gary (talk) 21:12, 18 November 2007 (UTC)

Info about the association among the Alzheimer's disease, dementia and the chemical.....

 * http://scholar.google.com/scholar?as_q=aluminium+Alzheimer%27s+disease&num=10&btnG=Search+Scholar&as_epq=&as_oq=&as_eq=&as_occt=title&as_sauthors=&as_publication=&as_ylo=&as_yhi=&as_sdt=1.&as_sdtp=on&as_sdts=5&hl=en

--124.78.211.203 (talk) 07:57, 26 March 2010 (UTC)
 * http://scholar.google.com/scholar?hl=en&q=allintitle%3A+aluminium+Dementia&btnG=Search&as_sdt=2000&as_ylo=&as_vis=0

See more of the discussion for the topic of Potassium alum --124.78.211.203 (talk) 07:52, 26 March 2010 (UTC) Further links concerning aluminum in general:
 * http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/16045991 and similar articles at PubMed
 * http://www.controlyourimpact.com/articles/antiperspirant-aluminum-and-alzheimers-disease/ — Preceding unsigned comment added by 95.33.105.48 (talk) 21:38, 2 February 2016 (UTC)

A call for critical review for the chemical as a food additive.....
--124.78.211.203 (talk) 07:59, 26 March 2010 (UTC)
 * http://www.cfs.gov.hk/english/programme/programme_rafs/files/Guidelines_on_the_use_of_Al_additives_e.pdf