Kids play hard. There’s playing hard in the winter and there’s playing hard in the summer. It’s summer and this playing hard stinks! There are times when my 10 year old (sorry Seb!) walks in the door after playing outside and I tell him to go take a shower.. I can’t take it. The stink is a combination of perspiration and dirty clothes smell.
Until the folks at Junior Varsity Naturals emailed me about their natural deodorant, I didn’t consider that my 10 year old should start wearing deodorant any time soon. Well, according to an unbiased poll of over 500 parents, 28% of kids develop body odor between 10-11 years old. Yikes.. not my son, right?! I am so lucky that I was recently contacted by Junior Varsity Naturals to review their natural kids deodorant. What timing!

Junior Varsity Naturals brand deodorant is an all-natural product developed for active children of any age. This product is created with no harsh chemicals such as aluminum chlorhydrate (may be linked with Alzheimer’s Disease), Parabens (May be linked with breast cancer) and propylene glycol (Ingredient commonly used in manufacturing antifreeze). Instead Junior varsity Naturals produces a natural antibacterial deodorant complete with odor preventing botanicals, which are gentle and effective. This natural deodorant goes on clear and will not leave any white residue.

Junior Varsity Naturals brand deodorant is available specifically for boys and girls. The boy’s deodorant has a citrus fragrance (all natural) while the girls is cherry. My 3 year old daughter carries her Junior Varsity Naturals deodorant in her little bag she takes everywhere! She calls it her “dodedant”.

How much? A well worth it $6.99
Where to buy: Junior Varsity Naturals

Here’s an interesting article..

Are you Poisoning your Kid’s?

Junior Varsity Naturals™ is the only maker of an all natural gender specific deodorant for kids. This deodorants ingredients list is the shortest out there which includes Glycerin (Derived from vegetable oil), Aqua (water), Sodium Stearate (Derived form stearic acid from vegetable oil) Ethylhexelglycerin (Derived from vegetable glycerin from vegetable oil), Polysorbate 20 (Derived from Lauric Acid from coconut oil), and Fragrance (Derived from Essence oils).The company was founded in order to provide parents with an all natural deodorant solution for their children. Junior Varsity Naturals™ hopes that retailers and distributors alike will share in the vision and social responsibility of making available all natural safe alternatives for our children. Information based on random unbiased poll of over 500 parents, facilitated by Misterpoll.com shows that of children 4 to 11 years old 50% of them are using deodorant by age 11. Based on 2007 US Census Bureau reports there are about 32 million children in this age group. The vast majority of these children using deodorant are using mainstream products which contain potentially damaging chemicals. Of the parents polled only 38% were aware of the potentially harmful chemicals contained in mainstream deodorants. Just a few of the potentially damaging chemicals include Parabens, Aluminum, and Propylene Glycol.

First, let’s take a look at Parabens which have a lot of different uses in a wide variety of products and even food, the primarily use is as a preservative, antifungal and for its bactericidal effects. There is thought to be a link between using deodorants containing Parabens and breast cancer. The Parabens can mimic the hormone estrogen which has been verified to play a role in breast cancer (1). When you are using a product like deodorant that is applied near or even on those areas could be cause for concern.

The scientific study that started this huge buzz is called “Concentrations of Parabens in Human Breast Tumors” by Darbre in the Journal of Applied Toxicology (2). This was the study that set off the huge debate over whether Deodorant can cause breast cancer and whether this study proves that. What his study showed is that in low dose long term exposure levels that humans are typically exposed to; Parabens can accumulate intact in the body. They tested 20 women’s breast tumors and found a substantial amount of live intact Parabens in all of them. The debate comes into play as to why no healthy breast tissues without tumors were tested as a control to determine whether the ones with tumors had higher levels of Parabens. Nobody is disputing the fact that Parabens can enter your body intact and accumulate and attach to fat cells, not to mention all the tested tumors had Parabens attached to them. From the different scientist’s opinions of this study none of them are saying that Parabens don’t cause breast cancer, they are just saying that Darbre’s study doesn’t prove they do and that more research is required.

The FDA says, “FDA believes that at the present time there is no reason for consumers to be concerned about the use of cosmetics containing Parabens. However, the agency will continue to evaluate new data in this area. If FDA determines that a health hazard exists, the agency will advise the industry and the public, and will consider its legal options under the authority of the FD&C Act in protecting the health and welfare of consumers.”(3) They came to this conclusion based off of CIR’s (Cosmetic Ingredient Review) opinion on the subject. The CIR is an industry sponsored organization, a company funded by cosmetic companies that use Parabens in their products.

Aluminum, there is a thought that the Aluminum contained in antiperspirants may be linked with Alzheimer’s disease. What researchers have found is that some forms of aluminum when found in the brain can cause the neurological damage associated with Alzheimer’s disease. Whether or not the aluminum found in antiperspirants causes increases in aluminum content of the brain, still needs to be determined. Aluminum is one of the most toxic substances to humans. Aluminum damages nervous systems in both infants and adults. It is linked in Anemia, Osteomalacia, glucose intolerance, memory deficits, and Alzheimer’s, Lou Gehrig’s (amyotrophic lateral sclerosis), and Parkinson’s diseases. They do know that aluminum is extremely dangerous and should be avoided. Humans also absorb aluminum through the skin: a 2001 study showed that aluminum was still present in blood samples 15 days after one application of deodorant containing aluminum to the armpit. (4) One study has asserted that the use of aluminum based antiperspirants increases the risk of Alzheimer’s disease by 60%! (5)

Another interesting point of Aluminum Zirconium is that it is only used in Antiperspirants and not deodorants. This in fact is the difference between the two. Antiperspirant is an Over the Counter (OTC) drug because the aluminum is an active ingredient. The chemical compound Aluminum Zirconium actually stops the body from perspiring, the concern is that if your bodies natural functions are somehow blocked, like perspiring for instance, could this be potentially damaging?

Propylene Glycol, even some natural deodorants use Propylene Glycol and even use AKA’s to disguise it such as Propanediol. To boil down this substance, it is a commonly used ingredient in antifreeze. Propylene Glycol enters the skin so quickly that the EPA has warned factory workers to avoid skin contact in order to prevent brain, liver, and kidney abnormalities. Considering that this is the main ingredient in most deodorants including some self proclaimed natural deodorants, could be cause for concern.

Junior Varsity Naturals, believe that they need to help educate people on potentially harmful chemicals in personal care products and continually provide safe and natural alternatives for our children. You can purchase Junior Varsity Naturals™ kids deodorant online by visiting www.jvnaturals.com

By Stevan Todorovic

www.jvnaturals.com

Junior Varsity Naturals

(Kids Deodorant)

Sources

(1) Lipworth L. 1995 Epidermiology of breast cancer. Eur.J Cancer Prevent. 4: 7-30

(2) http://www.maxgreenalchemy.com/images/ParabenReportDarbre.pdf “Concentrations of Parabens in Human Breast Tumors” by Darbre in the Journal of Applied Toxicology

(3)

(4) Flarend, R, T Bin, D Elmore, and S L. Hemb. “A Preliminary Study of the Dermal Absorption of Aluminium From Antiperspirants Using Aluminium-26.” Food and Chemical Toxicology 39 (2001): 163-168. 22 Jan. 2008

(5) Jansson, Erik T. “Aluminum Exposure and Alzheimer’s Disease.” Journal of Alzheimer\’s Disease 3 (2001): 541-549. 9 Jan. 2008 .
Also available at:

(6) http://www.jvnaturals.com Kids Deodorant