Teenage Perspiration Exhibits Unique Chemical Composition with Musk and Urine Undertones
Teen sweat is uniquely composed, carrying hints of musk and urine. The sweat produced by teenagers and babies contains different chemicals, possibly explaining why babies are often thought to smell more pleasant.
Teenagers seem to produce chemicals in their sweat that result in body odor reminiscent of urine, musk, or sandalwood.
Recognizing these chemicals could pave the way for improved odor control methods, such as enhanced deodorants. The hormonal shifts that happen during puberty are linked to an increase in body odor.
Recognizing these chemicals could pave the way for improved odor control methods, such as enhanced deodorants. The hormonal shifts that happen during puberty are linked to an increase in body odor.
They gathered 18 children up to 3 years old and 18 teenagers aged 14 to 18. All participants bathed with an unscented gel before sleeping with cotton pads stitched into the armpit areas of their clothes.
The researchers then extracted the chemical compounds soaked up by the pads and identified them using a method known as mass spectrometry.
They employed gas chromatography and a trained assessor to detect odorous chemicals. As Loos explains, “The human nose serves as a detector.”
While the chemicals causing body odor in both groups were similar overall, the samples from teenagers had higher concentrations of several carboxylic acids, described by the assessor as “cheesy”, “musty”, and “earthy”.
The team also found two steroids exclusive to the teenage samples, which smelled of “urine and musk” and “sandalwood and musk”, respectively. They suggest that these chemical differences between teenage and infant body odor might be why infants are generally perceived as smelling more pleasant.
However, Andreas Notch from the fragrance manufacturer Givaudan in Switzerland notes that the study only assessed body odors over a single night. He points out that “The more intense odors' of adults emerge upon emotional or physical stress.”
Sweat’s chemical compounds are volatile, meaning they readily evaporate into a gaseous state, which we interpret as odors.
She has a BEng/BA from
the University of Queensland
and a PhD in solar chemistry
from the University of Newcastle,
Australia.
Tags
HEALTH INFO
Informative
ReplyDelete