Dirty socks from the point of view of science
Scientists have found out why dirty laundry stinks
Vyacheslav Golovanov, GeekTimes based on the materials of Discovery News: Why Does Dirty Laundry Stink?
Researchers from the University of Northumbria have discovered which specific chemical compounds are responsible for the unpleasant smell that worn clothes have. They found six volatile organic substances produced by bacteria living on our skin. The study should help in finding the most effective and least environmentally harmful means for washing clothes.
Human sweat does not have a pronounced odor – the products of the vital activity of bacteria living on human skin smell unpleasant. They process organic matter released with sweat, skin particles and gland secretions, and in turn secrete other substances.
In the experiment, the subjects wore socks and T-shirts, which the researchers then studied. They were sniffed, the odor nuisance coefficient was set on a scale from 1 to 10, samples were taken, then washed and samples were taken again.
The collected samples were studied using a gas chromatograph and a volatile substance analysis process known as SHS-MCC-GC-IMS. The researchers analyzed the composition and smell of the chemical compounds obtained, compared them with the smelliness estimates and selected exactly those that smelled the most unpleasant.
In total, six compounds were identified – butyric acid, dimethane disulfide, dimethane trisulfide, 2-heptanone, 2-nonanone and 2-octane. According to scientists, butyric acid has an unpleasant, bitter-greasy smell, sulfur and methane compounds smell like onions, and three ketones resemble grass, banana peel and apples in smell.
Interestingly, the concentration of these substances on the washed things, although decreased, but did not become zero. Scientists hope to pick up such substances for washing that effectively eliminate the listed substances from clothing, causing minimal damage to the environment.
Article by Denawaka et al. Source, impact and removal of malodour from soiled clothing is published in open access in the Journal of Chromatography A – VM.
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25.05.2016