The smell of us – crowdsourcing human body odor evaluation

Authors

  • Marguerite Benony Centre for Research and Interdisciplinarity, Paris Descartes University, 75014 Paris
  • Marianne Cardon Centre for Research and Interdisciplinarity, Paris Descartes University, 75014 Paris
  • Arnaud Ferré MaIAGE, INRA, Université Paris-Saclay, 78350 Jouy-en-Josas
  • Jean Coquet DYLISS, INRIA-IRISA, Université de Rennes 1, Campus de Beaulieu, 35042 Rennes
  • Nathan Foulquier LaTIM, U1101 Institut National de a Santé et de la Recherche Médicale (INSERM), CHRU Morvan, 2 Av. Foch, 29609 Brest
  • Florian Thonier U1151 Institut National de a Santé et de la Recherche Médicale (INSERM), 75015 Paris
  • Lucas Le Lann ERI29, EA2216 Institut National de a Santé et de la Recherche Médicale (INSERM), Université de Brest, Labex IGO, CHRU Morvan, 29200 Brest
  • Henry De Belly Centre for Research and Interdisciplinarity, Paris Descartes University, 75014 Paris
  • Alexandre Evans Centre for Research and Interdisciplinarity, Paris Descartes University, 75014 Paris
  • Aakriti Jain Centre for Research and Interdisciplinarity, Paris Descartes University, 75014 Paris
  • Juan Manuel García Arcos Centre for Research and Interdisciplinarity, Paris Descartes University, 75014 Paris
  • Jason Bland U1001 Institut National de a Santé et de la Recherche Médicale (INSERM), 75014 Paris
  • Ian Marcus University of California, Riverside, CA 92521
  • Ariel B Lindner U1001 Institut National de a Santé et de la Recherche Médicale (INSERM), 75014 Paris
  • Edwin H Wintermute U1001 Institut National de a Santé et de la Recherche Médicale (INSERM), 75014 Paris

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.15346/hc.v3i1.9

Keywords:

Wisdom of the Crowd, Smell, Odor, Olfaction, Senses, Perception, Preference

Abstract

Human body odor is produced when sweat-secreted compounds are metabolized by bacteria present on the skin. The resulting volatile mixture is often negatively perceived, motivating the use of personal cosmetic deodorants. Yet body odor may also be positively perceived in some contexts, and is proposed to play a role in sexual attraction, kin identification and social bonding. Because only human smellers can report the hedonic qualities of body odor, their persceptions are a valualbe complement to modern GC-MS-based quantitative chemical measurements. Here we present a crowdsourcing framework that engages volunteer smellers to characterize human sweat samples. Our approach seeks to reward both the sweat donor and the smeller with a web-based graphical interface that is informative, interesting, and fun. 300 samples from 87 individual donors were scored by 93 smellers for intensity, pleasantness, and a variety of odor descriptors. Body odor intensity and pleasantness were determined to vary with age, gender, and self-reported deodorant use. Counterintuitively, deodorant use showed no effect on the perceived intensity of body odor, and was associated with a decrease in the perceived pleasantness. From these data, we determine the precision and dynamic range of the volunteer nose as a body odor evaluation instrument and estimate the scale of crowdsourcing effort that would be required to precisely quantify the public perception of body odors.

References

Agapakis, C. M., & Tolaas, S. (2012). Smelling in multiple dimensions. Current Opinion in Chemical Biology, 16(5-6), 569–575. http://doi.org/10.1016/j.cbpa.2012.10.035

Bornstein, M. M., Stocker, B. L., Seemann, R., Bürgin, W. B., & Lussi, A. (2008). Prevalence of Halitosis in Young Male Adults: A Study in Swiss Army Recruits Comparing Self-Reported and Clinical Data. Dx.Doi.org, 80(1), 24–31. http://doi.org/10.1902/jop.2009.080310

Brabham, D. C., Ribisl, K. M., Kirchner, T. R., & Bernhardt, J. M. (2014). Crowdsourcing Applications for Public Health. American Journal of Preventive Medicine, 46(2), 179–187.

Cain, W. S. (1979). To know with the nose: keys to odor identification. Science, 203(4379), 467–470. http://doi.org/10.1080/741941391

Calkin, R. R., & Jellinek, J. S. (1994). Perfumery: practice and principles. John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

Callewaert, C., De Maeseneire, E., Kerckhof, F.-M., Verliefde, A., Van de Wiele, T., & Boon, N. (2014a). Microbial odor profile of polyester and cotton clothes after a fitness session. Applied and Environmental Microbiology, 80(21), 6611–6619. http://doi.org/10.1128/AEM.01422-14

Callewaert, C., Hutapea, P., Van de Wiele, T., & Boon, N. (2014b). Deodorants and antiperspirants affect the axillary bacterial community. Archives of Dermatological Research, 306(8), 701–710. http://doi.org/10.1007/s00403-014-1487-1

Camps, J., Stouten, J., Tuteleers, C., & Son, K. (2014). Smells like cooperation? Unpleasant body odor and people's perceptions and helping behaviors. Journal of Applied Social Psychology, 44(2), 87–93. http://doi.org/10.1111/jasp.12203

Candido Dos Reis, F. J., Lynn, S., Ali, H. R., Eccles, D., Hanby, A., Provenzano, E., et al. (2015). Crowdsourcing the General Public for Large Scale Molecular Pathology Studies in Cancer. EBioMedicine, 2(7), 681–689.http://doi.org/10.1016/j.ebiom.2015.05.009

Chastrette, M. (1998). Data Management in Olfaction Studies. SAR and QSAR in Environmental Research, 8(3-4), 157–181. http://doi.org/10.1080/10629369808039139

Chen, D., & Haviland-Jones, J. (2000). Human olfactory communication of emotion. Perceptual and Motor Skills, 91(3 Pt 1), 771–781. http://doi.org/10.2466/pms.2000.91.3.771

Curran, A. M., Ramirez, C. F., Schoon, A. A., & Furton, K. G. (2007). The frequency of occurrence and discriminatory power of compounds found in human scent across a population determined by SPME-GC/MS. Journal of Chromatography B, 846(1-2), 86–97. http://doi.org/10.1016/j.jchromb.2006.08.039

Demole, E., Enggist, P., & Ohloff, G. (1982). 1‐p‐Menthene‐8‐thiol: A powerful flavor impact constituent of grapefruit juice (Citrus parodisi MACFAYDEN). Helvetica Chimica Acta, 65(6), 1785–1794. http://doi.org/10.1002/hlca.19820650614

Dormont, L., Bessiere, J. M., McKey, D., & Cohuet, A. (2013a). New methods for field collection of human skin volatiles and perspectives for their application in the chemical ecology of human-pathogen-vector interactions. Journal of Experimental Biology, 216(15), 2783–2788. http://doi.org/10.1242/jeb.085936

Dormont, L., Bessière, J.-M., & Cohuet, A. (2013b). Human Skin Volatiles: A Review. Journal of Chemical Ecology, 39(5), 569–578. http://doi.org/10.1007/s10886-013-0286-z

Doty, R. L. (1986). Gender and endocrine-related influences upon olfactory sensitivity. In Clinical Measurement of Taste and Smell. New York: Macmillan Publishers.

Doty, R. L., Ford, M., Preti, G., & Huggins, G. R. (1975). Changes in the intensity and pleasantness of human vaginal odors during the menstrual cycle. Science, 190(4221), 1316–1318. http://doi.org/10.1126/science.1239080

Dravnieks, A. (1982). Odor quality: semantically generated multidimensional profiles are stable. Science, 218(4574), 799–801. http://doi.org/10.1126/science.7134974

Drea, C. M. (2015). D'scent of man: a comparative survey of primate chemosignaling in relation to sex. Hormones and Behavior, 68, 117–133. http://doi.org/10.1016/j.yhbeh.2014.08.001

Fredrich, E., Barzantny, H., Brune, I., & Tauch, A. (2013). Daily battle against body odor: towards the activity of the axillary microbiota. Trends in Microbiology, 21(6), 305–312. http://doi.org/10.1016/j.tim.2013.03.002

Galton, F. (1907). Vox Populi. Nature, 75(1949), 450–451. http://doi.org/10.1038/075450a0

Gilbert, A. N., & Firestein, S. (2002). Dollars and scents: commercial opportunities in olfaction and taste. Nature Neuroscience, 5(Supp), 1043–1045. http://doi.org/10.1038/nn937

Havlicek, J., & Lenochova, P. (2006). The effect of meat consumption on body odor attractiveness. Chemical Senses, 31(8), 747–752. http://doi.org/10.1093/chemse/bjl017

Havlicek, J., Roberts, S. C., & Flegr, J. (2005). Women's preference for dominant male odour: effects of menstrual cycle and relationship status. Biology Letters, 1(3), 256–259. http://doi.org/10.1098/rsbl.2005.0332

Haze, S., Sakai, K., & Gozu, Y. (2002). Effects of fragrance inhalation on sympathetic activity in normal adults. Japanese Journal of Pharmacology, 90(3), 247–253. http://doi.org/10.1254/jjp.90.247

Herz, R. S., & Inzlicht, M. (2002). Sex differences in response to physical and social factors involved in human mate selection: The importance of smell for women. Evolution and Human Behavior, 23(5), 359–364. http://doi.org/10.1016/S1090-5138(02)00095-8

Jezierski, T., Walczak, M., Ligor, T., Rudnicka, J., & Buszewski, B. (2015). Study of the art: canine olfaction used for cancer detection on the basis of breath odour. Perspectives and limitations. Journal of Breath Research, 9(2), 027001. http://doi.org/10.1088/1752-7155/9/2/027001

Keller, A., Hempstead, M., Gomez, I. A., Gilbert, A. N., & Vosshall, L. B. (2012). An olfactory demography of a diverse metropolitan population. BMC Neuroscience, 13(1), 122. http://doi.org/10.1186/1471-2202-13-122

Keller, A., Zhuang, H., Chi, Q., Vosshall, L. B., & Matsunami, H. (2007). Genetic variation in a human odorant receptor alters odour perception. Nature, 449(7161), 468–472. http://doi.org/10.1038/nature06162

Koelega, H. S. (1994). Sex Differences in Olfactory Sensitivity and the Problem of the Generality of Smell Acuity. Perceptual and Motor Skills, 78(1), 203–213. http://doi.org/10.2466/pms.1994.78.1.203

Kolarsick, P. A. J., Kolarsick, M. A., & Goodwin, C. (2011). Anatomy and Physiology of the Skin. Journal of the Dermatology Nurses' Association, 3(4), 203–213. http://doi.org/10.1097/JDN.0b013e3182274a98

Kuhn, F., & Natsch, A. (2009). Body odour of monozygotic human twins: a common pattern of odorant carboxylic acids released by a bacterial aminoacylase from axilla secretions contributing to an inherited body odour type. Journal of the Royal Society Interface, 6(33), 377–392. http://doi.org/10.1098/rsif.2008.0223

Laska, M., Seibt, A., & Weber, A. (2000). “Microsmatic” primates revisited: olfactory sensitivity in the squirrel monkey. Chemical Senses, 25(1), 47–53.

Leyden, J. J., McGinley, K. J., Hölzle, E., Labows, J. N., & Kligman, A. M. (1981). The Microbiology of the Human Axilla and Its Relationship to Axillary Odor. Journal of Investigative Dermatology, 77(5), 413–416.

Lord, T., & Kasprzak, M. (1989). Identification of Self through Olfaction. Perceptual and Motor Skills, 69(1), 219–224. http://doi.org/10.2466/pms.1989.69.1.219

Lundström, J. N., & Olsson, M. J. (2010). Functional neuronal processing of human body odors. Vitamins and Hormones, 83, 1–23. http://doi.org/10.1016/S0083-6729(10)83001-8

Lundström, J. N., Gordon, A. R., Alden, E. C., Boesveldt, S., & Albrecht, J. (2010). Methods for building an inexpensive computer-controlled olfactometer for temporally-precise experiments. International Journal of Psychophysiology, 78(2), 179–189. http://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijpsycho.2010.07.007

Martin, A., Saathoff, M., Kuhn, F., Max, H., Terstegen, L., & Natsch, A. (2010). A Functional ABCC11 Allele Is Essential in the Biochemical Formation of Human Axillary Odor. Journal of Investigative Dermatology, 130(2), 529–540. http://doi.org/10.1038/jid.2009.254

McBurney, D. H., Levine, J. M., & Cavanaugh, P. H. (1976). Psychophysical and Social Ratings of Human Body Odor. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 3(1), 135–138. http://doi.org/10.1177/014616727600300126

Menini, A. (2004). Olfaction: From Odorant Molecules to the Olfactory Cortex. News in Physiological Sciences, 19(3), 101–104. http://doi.org/10.1152/nips.1507.2003

Moskowitz, H. R., Dravnieks, A., & Klarman, L. A. (1976). Odor intensity and pleasantness for a diverse set of odorants. Perception & Psychophysics, 19(2), 122–128. http://doi.org/10.3758/BF03204218

Oliveira-Pinto, A. V., Santos, R. M., Coutinho, R. A., Oliveira, L. M., Santos, G. B., Alho, A. T. L., et al. (2014). Sexual Dimorphism in the Human Olfactory Bulb: Females Have More Neurons and Glial Cells than Males. PLoS ONE, 9(11), e111733–9. http://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0111733

Olsson, M. J., Lundstrom, J. N., Kimball, B. A., Gordon, A. R., Karshikoff, B., Hosseini, N., et al. (2014). The Scent of Disease: Human Body Odor Contains an Early Chemosensory Cue of Sickness. Psychological Science, 25(3), 817–823. http://doi.org/10.1177/0956797613515681

Parrott, W. G. (2001). Emotions in Social Psychology. Psychology Press.

Penn, D. J., Oberzaucher, E., Grammer, K., Fischer, G., Soini, H. A., Wiesler, D., et al. (2007). Individual and gender fingerprints in human body odour. Journal of the Royal Society Interface, 4(13), 331–340. http://doi.org/10.1098/rsif.2006.0182

Poncelet, J., Rinck, F., Ziessel, A., Joussain, P., Thévenet, M., Rouby, C., & Bensafi, M. (2010). Semantic Knowledge Influences Prewired Hedonic Responses to Odors. PLoS ONE, 5(11), e13878–8. http://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0013878

Seo, H.-S., Guarneros, M., Hudson, R., Distel, H., Min, B.-C., Kang, J.-K., et al. (2011). Attitudes toward Olfaction: A Cross-regional Study. Chemical Senses, 36(2), 177–187. http://doi.org/10.1093/chemse/bjq112

Shepherd, G. M. (2004). The Human Sense of Smell: Are We Better Than We Think? PLoS Biology, 2(5), e146–4. http://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pbio.0020146

Shirasu, M., & Touhara, K. (2011). The scent of disease: volatile organic compounds of the human body related to disease and disorder. Journal of Biochemistry, 150(3), 257–266. http://doi.org/10.1093/jb/mvr090

Singh, D., & Bronstad, P. M. (2001). Female body odour is a potential cue to ovulation. Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences, 268(1469), 797–801. http://doi.org/10.1098/rspb.2001.1589

Sorokowska, A. (2013). Assessing Personality Using Body Odor: Differences Between Children and Adults. Journal of Nonverbal Behavior, 37(3), 153–163. http://doi.org/10.1007/s10919-013-0152-2

Thomas-Danguin, T., Sinding, C., Romagny, S., Mountassir, El, F., Atanasova, B., Le Berre, E., et al. (2014). The perception of odor objects in everyday life: a review on the processing of odor mixtures. Frontiers in Psychology, 5(1220), 504. http://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2014.00504

Troccaz, M., Borchard, G., Vuilleumier, C., Raviot-Derrien, S., Niclass, Y., Beccucci, S., & Starkenmann, C. (2008). Gender-Specific Differences between the Concentrations of Nonvolatile (R)/(S)-3-Methyl-3-Sulfanylhexan-1-Ol and (R)/(S)-3-Hydroxy-3-Methyl-Hexanoic Acid Odor Precursors in Axillary Secretions. Chemical Senses, 34(3), 203–210. http://doi.org/10.1093/chemse/bjn076

Troccaz, M., Starkenmann, C., Niclass, Y., van de Waal, M., & Clark, A. J. (2004). 3‐Methyl‐3‐sulfanylhexan‐1‐ol as a Major Descriptor for the Human Axilla‐Sweat Odour Profile. Chemistry & Biodiversity, 1(7), 1022–1035. http://doi.org/10.1002/cbdv.200490077

Urban, J., Fergus, D. J., Savage, A. M., Ehlers, M., Menninger, H. L., Dunn, R. R., & Horvath, J. E. (2016). The effect of habitual and experimental antiperspirant and deodorant product use on the armpit microbiome. PeerJ, 4(8), e1605–20. http://doi.org/10.7717/peerj.1605

Wilke, K., Martin, A., Terstegen, L., & Biel, S. S. (2007). A short history of sweat gland biology. International Journal of Cosmetic Science, 29(3), 169–179. http://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-2494.2007.00387.x

Williams, A. C., Wallin, J. F., Yu, H., Perale, M., Carroll, H. D., Lamblin, A.-F., et al. (2014). A computational pipeline for crowdsourced transcriptions of Ancient Greek papyrus fragments (pp. 100–105). Presented at the 2014 IEEE International Conference on Big Data (Big Data), IEEE. http://doi.org/10.1109/BigData.2014.7004460

Wyatt, T. D. (2015). The search for human pheromones: the lost decades and the necessity of returning to first principles. Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences, 282(1804), 20142994–20142994. http://doi.org/10.1098/rspb.2014.2994

Yamazaki, S., Hoshino, K., & Kusuhara, M. (2010). Odor associated with aging. Anti-Aging Medicine, 7(6), 60–65. http://doi.org/10.3793/jaam.7.60

Yeshurun, Y., & Sobel, N. (2010). An Odor is Not Worth a Thousand Words: From Multidimensional Odors to Unidimensional Odor Objects. Annual Review of Psychology, 61(1), 219–241. http://doi.org/10.1146/annurev.psych.60.110707.163639

Downloads

Published

2016-12-31

How to Cite

Benony, M., Cardon, M., Ferré, A., Coquet, J., Foulquier, N., Thonier, F., Le Lann, L., De Belly, H., Evans, A., Jain, A., García Arcos, J. M., Bland, J., Marcus, I., Lindner, A. B., & Wintermute, E. H. (2016). The smell of us – crowdsourcing human body odor evaluation. Human Computation, 3(1), 161-179. https://doi.org/10.15346/hc.v3i1.9

Issue

Section

Research