Aluminum chlorohydrate

Aluminum chlorohydrate (CAS 12042-91-0), commonly abbreviated as ACH, is an inorganic aluminum salt used as a coagulant and flocculant in municipal and industrial water treatment.

Where is Aluminum chlorohydrate used?

• Personal care: active antiperspirant ingredient in topical formulations
• Drinking water and wastewater treatment: destabilizes suspended particles and colloids, enabling sedimentation and filtration at lower dosage rates than alum
• Pulp and paper: pitch control and retention aid during sheet formation
• Industrial effluent treatment: phosphate removal and turbidity reduction
• Antiperspirant roll-ons, sticks, and aerosols rely on ACH as the active agent that temporarily reduces sweat gland output.

Good to know: Not to be confused with Polyaluminium Chloride (PAC), a broader family of aluminum chloride hydroxide compounds with varying basicity. The most commonly specified active in OTC antiperspirant products.