Body odor usually worsens around puberty
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Teens appear to produce chemicals in their sweat that cause body odor, such as urine, musk, and sandalwood. Awareness of these chemicals may lead to more effective odor control measures, such as more effective deodorants.
Because the chemical compounds in sweat are volatile, they easily turn into gases that are perceived as odor. Hormonal changes that occur during puberty are associated with increased body odor.
helen ruth Researchers at Germany’s Friedrich-Alexander University studied how body odor changes from childhood to adolescence.
The team recruited 18 children up to the age of three and 18 adolescents between the ages of 14 and 18. They all washed themselves with unscented gel before bed and had cotton pads sewn to the sides of their clothes.
The researchers then extracted the compounds absorbed by the pads and identified them using a technique called mass spectrometry. They then used a process called gas chromatography and trained evaluators to detect the odorous chemicals. “The human nose is used as a detector,” Roos says.
Overall, the body odor-causing chemicals in the two groups were similar, but the chemicals collected from the teens contained higher levels of some carboxylic acids, and the judges described it as “cheap”, “musty” and “earthy”.
The researchers also identified two steroids unique to the teens’ samples, which smelled of “urine and musk” and “sandalwood and musk,” respectively. Chemical differences between teen body odor and toddler body odor may be why toddlers are generally considered to have more pleasant smells, the researchers write.
Ruth says further research into the scents we produce at different ages could help scientists develop more effective odor control measures.
but andreas natsch Swiss fragrance maker Givaudan notes that the study only assessed overnight body odor. “In adults, more pungent odors occur when they are under mental or physical stress,” he says.
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Source: www.newscientist.com
