Body Synthesis Essay

As seen on television, billboards, in magazines and the internet, ads for numerous personal care products bombard society every day. It has become society’s new unwritten standard to become perfect. Celebrities eagerly advertise these products to enhance their careers and to project an image, and, the general public enthusiastically purchase these deodorizing products. If a manufacturer can make us feel that a daily product is so essential that we must have it to make life better, then the product becomes a basic need for daily living. Basic needs become biological necessities, in our minds, that allow us to function normally within society. Despite the fact that deodorants offer no real health benefits -- unlike soap and toothpaste -- you

Sweat is produced as a means of cooling the body and is secreted through a variety of sweat glands (Berger, 2011). Underarm glands are called apocrine glands, secreting sweat that contains protein and fatty acids. When anxious, epinephrine is the catalyst for stimulating the sweat glands. Sweat initially does not have an odor. The odor that is produced is a result of the apocrine gland secretion that is metabolized by bacteria, like Staphylococcus epidermidis and Corynebacterium species (Shahtalebi et al.,

The underarm area of the body is called the axilla and is the location of the apocrine glands, which transport sweat, protein and fat to the underarm skin surface. This warm and moist environment is home to bacteria. The bacteria feed off of the protein and fat contained in sweat and secrete their waste product which gives off a pungent odor. When deodorant is applied to this area active ingredients, such as triclosan, cause the surface area of the axilla to temporarily become either salty or acidic (Shelley et al, 1953). This creates a deadly environment for the bacteria that thrive in the moist armpit axilla area, temporarily reducing the number of bacteria which results in odor control. And, with any product acting on bacteria, this particular antibacterial ingredient causes concern to the scientific community: “Triclosan is an effective antibacterial agent used in some deodorant products. However, many groups and scientists are calling for it to be banned from cosmetic products due to concerns about its impact on bacterial resistance and natural ecosystems” (Bergmann and Murphy, 1997). Therefore, it can be reasoned that a deodorant’s antibacterial ingredients like triclosan could cause bacteria to become resistant, making it ineffective and result in a strain of bacteria that is