Some soaps we use may attract mosquitoes while others may not… but this effect varies from person to person.
- Some soaps attract mosquitoes and others repel them.
- But this effect varies from person to person due to each individual’s unique skin odor profile.
- Scientists have identified four related chemicals that seem to please mosquitoes and three that repel them, including a coconut-scented substance and a floral compound used to treat scabies and lice.
If you seem like a mosquito’s favorite feast, maybe all you need to do is change your shower gel. A study, conducted by researchers at Virginia Tech and published in the journal iScience on May 10, shows that these insects are attracted by the smell of certain soaps.
Mosquito bite: soaps have different effects depending on the person
Seeking to understand why some people were bitten by mosquitoes more than others, the scientists studied the odors emitted by four volunteers, before showering and after washing with four brands of soap available on the American market: Dial , Dove, Native and Simple Truth.
They discovered that certain soaps do indeed attract mosquitoes. However, the effects vary from one individual to another due to the interactions between the composition of the washing products and the unique odor profile of each one. In other words, a soap that attracts a mosquito to one person may not attract it to another person.
Specific chemicals attract or repel mosquitoes
Scientists have identified four chemicals that seem to please mosquitoes and three that repel them, including a coconut-scented substance and a floral compound used to treat scabies and lice.
“What really matters to the mosquito is not the most abundant chemical, but rather the specific associations and combinations of substances, not just soap, but also our personal body odors”explains one of the authors of the Clément Vinauger study in a communicated. “All of the soaps contained a chemical called limonene which is a known mosquito repellent, but despite being the main chemical in all four soaps, three of the four soaps we tested increased mosquito attraction. “
The team then combined the chemicals that made the flying insects react to create and test attractive or repellent odor blends. “With these mixes, we’ve eliminated all ‘noise in the signal’ by only including chemicals that statistics told us were important for attraction or repulsion.“, Clement Vinauger clarified. For him, the soap scented with coconut is the most effective in repelling mosquitoes. However, given the reaction of everyone’s skin, his advice may not be the best. more effective on you.
