2023-05-11 04:00:12
Mosquitoes are attracted to all sorts of things – exhaled CO2 is often just as attractive to insects as sweat or the general body odor of certain people. Washing with soap can partially mask a person’s natural odors, but whether it also affects how attractive they are to mosquitoes has been unclear until now.
Look for attractive smells
A research team from the USA addressed this question in a paper recently presented in the specialist journal “iScience”. Study following. “We know that the female mosquitoes feed primarily on plant nectar and actually only suck the blood of other creatures to nourish their eggs,” says the biochemist Clement Vinauger from Virginia Tech University (USA) to science.ORF.at. “So we wanted to know, among other things, whether soaps that smell very floral, for example, might attract mosquitoes more than soaps with other aromas.”
Body odor is only partially masked
To clarify this, the team examined the chemical composition of the body odor of four test persons in several experiments. Using special methods like the Gas chromatography coupled to mass spectrometry the researchers analyzed the body odor of the people before and following they had washed with one of four commercially available soaps that are very popular in the USA.
It was found that the soaps did not completely mask the body odor of the test subjects. This was partly the case, as some odor-producing bacteria and chemicals were washed from the skin and replaced with chemicals from the soap.
However, the researchers also found clear indications that the soap scent not only mixed with the subjects’ natural body odor, it also influenced the chemical composition of the body’s own odors. “The soaps have been shown to change the chemical compounds in the substances that we naturally produce and expel,” says Vinauger. Even following washing with the same soap, people never smell exactly the same.
For potential protection once morest disease
In further experiments, the team investigated what this means for the attraction to mosquitoes. To this it presented Egyptian tiger mosquitoes several sleeves of garments worn by the subjects either before or following washing with soap. The species was chosen by the research team because it is now found in many parts of the world. The animals are also capable of transmitting diseases such as yellow fever. “Finding an effective and inexpensive way to at least partially protect oneself from these mosquitoes might prevent many serious cases of illness,” says Vinauger.
Not only main components are decisive
The investigation in the laboratory showed that three of the four test persons were already attracted to the mosquitoes even without the soap smell, while the insects hardly settled on the sleeve of the fourth person. The natural body odor alone attracted the mosquitoes to some people more than to others.
After the subjects had washed themselves with soap, the research team noticed significant differences in the behavior of the mosquitoes. The preferences of the animals changed with the different soaps – but the animals also behaved very differently among the test persons who had washed with the same soap.
In the majority of the studies, a popular soap from the “Dove” brand led to more mosquitoes settling on the sleeves of the test subjects. So the soap smell was attractive to the animals, but not to all four people tested. In some cases, the soap even had the opposite effect.
Individual olfactory cocktail
“We would have actually expected that all four soaps would tend to repel the mosquitoes because they contain large amounts of limonene (chemical compound, ed.) that are known to be actually not particularly liked by mosquitoes,” Vinauger explains. The fact that exactly the opposite was the case with three of the four soaps is probably due to the fact that it is not just the main components that determine how attractive or repellent the smell of the soap is to mosquitoes.
Rather, each person’s unique combination of the soap chemicals with the body’s natural substances determines how the mosquitoes react to the aromas. “It’s really fascinating that using certain soaps can make one person more attractive to mosquitoes, when the same soap can have the opposite effect on another person,” says Vinauger.
Since the research team has only been able to carry out the investigations on a small scale with four people, it is still difficult, according to the biochemist, to make generally valid statements regarding the soap smells. In any case, with the current study, the researchers show that a certain soap aroma alone neither clearly attracts nor repels the mosquitoes.
Expert tip: Soaps with a coconut scent
So there is no specific soap smell that protects everyone from mosquito bites. However, the research team was able to isolate a few chemicals found in the soaps they studied that potentially lead to greater attraction to mosquitoes. These include, above all, floral and fruity substances, which are also sometimes used in perfumery for exotic scents, such as a pineapple aroma.
In contrast, the gnats were mostly repelled by a coconut flavor often found in American bourbon whiskey. The research team’s findings also match the results of previous studies, which have repeatedly shown that mosquitoes have something once morest the smell of coconuts. “Coconut soap probably gives you the best chance of repelling mosquitoes,” advises Vinauger.
Here, too, the biochemist points out the great importance of individual body odor: “Even if I still get bitten very often with coconut soap, it is definitely worth testing different hygiene products to find the best option for repelling mosquitoes In any case, Vinauger still recommends using tried-and-tested mosquito repellents in areas that are particularly infested with mosquitoes.
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