Aluminum acetate is a water-soluble salt compound often used in medicine as an astringent or antiseptic. Dermeleve’s patented formula works with the aluminum acetate to relieve itch and skin irritations. Aluminum Acetate is regulated by the Over-the-Counter (OTC) FDA monograph which describes aluminum-containing topical products used to treat minor skin irritations. These include:
Insect bites and stings
Itchy rashes from soaps, detergents, cosmetics and jewelry
Poison ivy, oak and sumac
Aluminum is found naturally in the human diet in small amounts. According to this article on www.healthfully.com https://healthfully.com/aluminum-in-your-diet-7054020.html. "Beef, poultry, ham, eggs and fresh fruits have 1 milligram or less of aluminum per kilogram of food, according to a report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The aluminum in different types of fish ranges between 0.1 and 6 milligrams per kilogram. Most fresh vegetables contain 1 to 4 milligrams per kilogram, except for spinach, which has five times more. Tea leaves are one of the rare plants with a very high aluminum content, but not all of it leaches into the water when you prepare a cup of tea. You may get as much as 3.6 milligrams of aluminum per liter of steeped tea. This is about the same amount as fruit juice, but it’s four times higher than coffee and other beverages.
Aluminum is also used in many antiperspirants at concentrations upwards of 16%, and The National Cancer Institute’s webpage (https://www.cancer.gov/about-cancer/causes-prevention/risk/myths/antiperspirants-fact-sheet#what-is-known-about-the-relationship-between-antiperspirants-or-deodorants-and-breast-cancer) states that “no scientific evidence links the use of [antiperspirants] to the development of breast cancer.” Dermeleve contains 0.2% Aluminum Acetate. This is 80 to 100 times less than standard anti-perspirants on the market.
In a preliminary study of the dermal absorption of aluminum from antiperspirants using aluminum-26 (https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/11267710/), “Results indicate that only 0.012% of the applied aluminum was absorbed through the skin. At this rate, about 4 microg of aluminum is absorbed from a single use of ACH on both underarms. This is about 2.5% of the aluminum typically absorbed by the gut from food over the same time period. Therefore, a one-time use of ACH applied to the skin is not a significant contribution to the body burden of aluminum.”
Additional resources on Aluminum: No, you shouldn’t worry about aluminum in your antiperspirant https://wexnermedical.osu.edu/blog/aluminum-deoderantCancer.org: “Antiperspirants and Breast Cancer Risk“ https://www.cancer.org/content/dam/CRC/PDF/Public/6148.00.pdf Assessment of Dermal Absorption of Aluminum from a Representative Antiperspirant Formulation Using a 26Al Microtracer Approach https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6226111/