New cancer worry over deodorants

Fresh fears have emerged over the safety of deodorants.

Frequent underarm shaving combined with deodorant use could increase a woman's chances of getting breast cancer, a new study claims.

However, experts have described the new US study as "inadequate" - and say it contains no reliable evidence.

Dr Kris McGrath, of North-Western University in Evanston, Illinois, looked at the way 437 breast cancer patients applied deodorant.

The study, published in the European Journal of Cancer Prevention, found that the more zealous their underarm regime, the younger the women were when diagnosed.

Dr McGrath suspects that aluminium compounds found in many deodorant products may be to blame.

But Dr Dana Mirick of Seattle, whose 2002 study found no link between deodorants, shaving and breast cancer, said the most serious flaw in the McGrath study was that it did not look at the habits of a comparison group without breast cancer.