- New research analyzes the interplay between soap scent, the body’s unique odor profile, and mosquito attraction.
- Researchers say coconut-scented soaps were among the most effective at repelling mosquitoes.
- Researchers would like to further explore why mosquitoes are drawn to certain chemicals in soap.
- Experts note that no soap is as effective as a proper mosquito repellent.
Summertime brings with it the promise of longer days, warmer temperatures, and time spent outdoors.
The season also brings mosquitoes.
If it feels like mosquitoes target you more than others, it might have to do with the soap you’re using — along with your unique body chemistry.
Researchers from Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University conducted a study of unique odor profiles in people, along with different soaps, to determine the scents that mosquitoes are drawn to, and, conversely, the scents they’re repelled by.
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While there’s no magic bullet for avoiding mosquito bites, experts say the data presents a compelling reason to switch up the soap you might be using.
Daniel Peach, an assistant professor in vector ecology and infectious diseases at the University of Georgia’s Savannah River Ecology Lab & Department of Infectious Diseases, told Medical News Today that a number of variables can make a person more or less likely to be attractive to mosquitoes.
“Mosquitoes are attracted to people based on several intermodal cues, including carbon dioxide in our breath, odor cues such as volatiles produced by our metabolism or our skin microbiota, visual cues such as the clothing we wear, and more,” he explained. “Differences in attraction between different people come down to differences in these cues, frequently our odor profile.”
While many of these factors cannot be controlled, Clément Vinauger, PhD, an assistant professor at Virginia Tech, said that he and his colleagues wanted to study one that could be altered —…
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