Your Soap Might Make You More Attractive To Mosquitoes

Topline

A new study suggests certain soap brands—including Dove and Simple Truth—can make people more likely to get bitten by mosquitoes, though results varied depending on a person’s personal body odor profile.

An Aedes Aegypti mosquito is photographed on human skin. (Photo by LUIS ROBAYO/AFP via Getty Images)

AFP via Getty Images

Key Facts

Researchers from Virginia Tech published a study in iScience examining the impact of four popular soap brands—Dove, Native, Dial and Simple Truth—on a person’s attractiveness to mosquitoes.

The researchers analyzed the odor profiles of human volunteers, both before and after washing with one of the soaps, and found each volunteer had a unique odor altered significantly by using soap.

Some, but not all, of the subjects who used Dove or Simple Truth soaps were significantly more attractive to mosquitoes, while those who used Native tended to repel mosquitoes.

The trials were conducted using fabrics that had absorbed each human’s scent instead of on the humans themselves.

The volunteers’ fabrics were tested with female Aedes aegypti before washing themselves versus one hour after using these soaps.

The researchers used their data to isolate chemicals found in these soaps to create mixtures that would either attract or repel mosquitoes.

Mosquitoes were gravitated toward one mixture (made of alpha-isomethyl ionone, lilial, allyl heptanoate and 4-tert-Butylcyclohexyl acetate) and avoided the other (containing benzyl benzoate, gamma-nonalactone and benzaldehyde).

Surprising Fact

All of the soaps used in the experiment contain limonene, a mosquito repellent, but some of the soaps still increased attractiveness because of the combinations between the chemicals in the soap and the person’s body odor.

Crucial Quote

“I would choose a coconut-scented soap if I wanted to reduce mosquito attraction,” senior author and neuroethologist Clément Vinauger said.

Key Background

Previous studies have linked a human’s odor to mosquito attraction. In one study published in October 2022, researchers from Rockefeller University in New York found that people who have higher levels of carboxylic acids on their skin were more likely to attract mosquitoes. Vanderbilt University professor LJ Zwiebel told The Washington Post though these acids are an important part of mosquito attraction, it’s not the only factor—rather, attraction likely depends on a “cocktail” of different chemicals on the body. Other studies have suggested factors like pregnancy and drinking beer can increase a person’s attractiveness to mosquitoes.

What To Watch For

How bad mosquito season will be this summer. Some parts of the United States are bracing for a rough mosquito season: Record rainfall in California may lead to more mosquitoes, and Minnesota’s snowy winter is expected to attract more mosquitoes than previous years. New York health officials warned the warmer winter has led to the early onset of mosquito season and urged people to take precautions to avoid the harmful diseases they can carry, like encephalitis and West Nile virus.

Your Soap Might Make You More Attractive To Mosquitoes—Here’s Why