John Emsley looks at the chemistry behind familiar, everyday products
Antiperspirant gels and roll-ons are a part of most people's daily hygiene regime. The active agents in these products are aluminium and zirconium salts, which block underarm sweat glands by reacting with water to form a sticky gel of aluminium hydroxide or zirconium hydroxide which plugs the pores. We know this is how they work because these tiny plugs have been observed by transmission electron microscopy.
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