On the heels of the story about the British woman who went 40 days without beauty products or bathing comes this story about a new study that says breast cancer could be linked to deodorant usage — particularly those deodorants/antiperspirants that rely heavily on aluminum (the study says the average antiperspirant is 90 percent aluminum).

Antiperspirant is mainly made up from aluminium salts which have long been associated with cancer, as well as other human disease and the daily application of aluminium-based antiperspirants could possibly result in the presence of aluminium in the tissue of the underarm and surrounding areas.

I’m always skeptical of these short, soundbyte-ready studies, but I’m also skeptical that every FDA-approved chemical we routinely apply to our bodies is truly safe in the long run. So, it doesn’t hurt to ask: Am I doing what’s best for my body? Of course, with all these inconclusive studies, it’s hard to tell. But if you’re feeling skittish, there are alternatives.

There are all sorts of products out there that claim to be aluminum-free — this stuff and this stuff, for example — but I’m curious: Have you found anything that’s both aluminum-free and actually works? Or do you, like my friend who lives near the beach, just forgo deodorant altogether?

Related reading: In case you’ve never paid much attention to the white goodness you cake on to your pits every day, this Wikipedia entry is actually pretty enlightening (as of 2:25 p.m. today, it still counts the breast-cancer link as a myth, but this may change) insofar as it explains how antiperspirants actually work.