May 12, 2023 21:00:00

It turns out that using floral scented soap makes it easier for mosquitoes to bite, what scent makes mosquitoes less likely to bite?

A new study conducted by researchers

at Virginia Tech's School of Agricultural and Life Sciences , with funding from the U.S. Department of Agriculture and National Laboratories, found that washing your body with certain scented soaps can kill mosquitoes. It became clear that it became easier to be stung and less likely to be stung.

Mosquito study shows soaps with floral scents attract mosquitoes more
https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/health/2023/05/11/soaps-that-attract-mosquitoes-study/70207924007/

Soap application alters mosquito-host interactions: iScience
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.isci.2023.106667

A Virginia Tech research team published May 10, 2023 in the scientific journal iScience, found that the scent of the soaps we use to wash our bodies could attract or repel mosquitoes. .

'Soap not only adds chemicals, it causes changes in the release of compounds that we naturally produce,' said Chloe Lahondale, one of the study's authors and an assistant professor of biochemistry at Virginia Tech. And it dramatically changes the smell of humans.'

According to research, mosquitoes like to eat plant nectar like other insects, so they seem to prefer scents derived from plants and those that mimic plant scents. There is a possibility that it will be made, 'he pointed out. According to the same study, there have been various studies on the effect of human body odor on mosquitoes, but it seems that the possibility that the soap used attracts or repels mosquitoes has not been considered at all. .

'By simply changing the scent of the soap, people who attract mosquitoes at a higher than average rate may be able to attract more mosquitoes or keep them away,' study co-author Clément Vinoger said. There is.'

In the study, four subjects were asked to wash their bodies using four different brands of soap:

Dial , Dove , Native , and Simple Truth . Scientific analysis of odors.

As a result of the analysis, not only did the subjects have different body odors, but they also had different body odors after using each soap. In addition, we verified whether mosquitoes like (or dislike) specific odors by repeatedly sniffing the body odors collected from the subjects.

Four types of soap were used for verification, three of which were scented with fruits and flowers. These so-called 'floral-scented soaps' were effective in attracting mosquitoes, while coconut-scented soaps were effective in repelling mosquitoes.

“Soap doesn’t just add chemicals to body odor, it replaces some chemicals with others and washes out others. It is thought that there will be many scientific interactions between the chemicals you have, ”said Vinoge.

``Previous research has shown that increasing specific fatty acids, such as the fatty acids contained in coconut oil, has the effect of repelling mosquitoes and other insects,'' Vinoge said. It was very interesting for us to experience this effect as a result of the survey.'

The research team expects that this discovery will have a major impact on future research to develop mosquito repellents that make it difficult for mosquitoes to bite and attractants used in traps to collect mosquitoes.

``It's important to try different soaps, because the results of this study show that what really matters is the combination of the natural human smell and the specific soap,'' said Vinoge. He talks and emphasizes that each person's body odor and the combination of soap will produce different odors.

In the future, the research team plans to investigate whether the effect will differ depending on the timing of washing the body with soap.