Most hikers know not to carry too many scented products into the backcountry鈥攂ut new research shows it鈥檚 not just bears they could be attracting. According to a , perfumes and soaps鈥攅specially those with natural, plant-derived scents鈥攃an act like mosquito magnets. The same is true of scented deodorants, sunscreens, and other skin-care products.
You might read that and be tempted to give up your backcountry hygiene routine altogether. However, research also shows that mosquitos are attracted to the scent of human sweat and BO. So, what鈥檚 worse: using mosquito-attracting skin-care products, or skipping out on personal hygiene altogether?
To find out, we spoke to G. Mandela Fernandez-Grandon, a UK-based entomologist who studies how smells impact animal and insect behavior. His answer? It鈥檚 complicated.
Research shows that mosquitoes are indeed drawn to human byproducts like lactic acid, which we produce naturally and which appears in our body odor. So, the stinkier we get, the more of these compounds we emit鈥攊ncreasing our chances of getting bit.
鈥淢any bacteria on our skin that attract mosquitos thrive on sweat,鈥 Fernandez-Grandon explains. Sweating profusely and going days without showering can help those bacteria flourish鈥攁nd make you 鈥減articularly attractive鈥 to mosquitos. (Drinking alcohol is another way to magnify your stink and bring the 鈥榮keeters around, he says.)
Maintaining at least some backcountry personal hygiene can reduce your attractiveness to mosquitos, Fernandez-Grandon says, but you do have to be pretty careful about what you use. That鈥檚 because lactic acid鈥攁s well as other mosquito attractants like cetyl alcohol and citric acid鈥攁re commonly found in the very same skin-care products made to keep our bodies clean. Using such products is like ringing the dinner bell for female mosquitoes (males don鈥檛 bite). And that鈥檚 just the fundamental ingredients we鈥檙e talking about here. Artificial scents add a whole other layer.
Many skin-care products are designed to smell like flowers. Fernandez-Grandon says the 鈥渇loral volatiles鈥 within these products may attract mosquitoes鈥攂ut not necessarily to bite you. 鈥淎 lot of work shows that when mosquitos are looking for flowers, when they鈥檙e looking for nectar to feed on, they鈥檙e not interested in blood feeding,鈥 he explains. In other words, they鈥檙e in a smell-the-roses mindset. And when they discover you鈥檙e not a flower, they鈥檙e likely to move on.
This may lead you to believe that lathering yourself lavender-scented lotion you may mask your human aroma. But unless it keeps you from breathing (in which case, throw it away immediately) you鈥檒l still be emitting carbon dioxide, which means mosquitos will still be able to detect you.
鈥淲hen they鈥檙e interested in getting a blood meal, we are very attractive and probably a lot more so than something small you might put on your skin,鈥 says Fernandez-Grandon. In other words, if you want to keep mosquitos at bay, you鈥檙e better off doing what you can to keep clean; it鈥檒l take more than a little soap residue to negate the mosquito-repelling benefits of minimizing your BO.
There are a few scents you can add that have been proven to repel mosquitoes. The first is citronella oil, extracted from plants and containing a component called PMD (P-menthane-3,8-diol). Cintronella is found in some soaps and balms. The other product, Fernandez-Grandon says, is , a bath oil which to repel bugs鈥攊ncluding both mosquitoes and biting midges. Then there鈥檚 good ol鈥 fashioned DEET, which is still one of the most effective repellents out there.
The takeaway: Try not to wear powerfully scented lotions or sunscreens if you can help it, but also don鈥檛 worry about giving up your hygiene routine altogether. When it comes to preventing mosquitoes, it doesn鈥檛 matter too much what scents you鈥檝e got on, says Fernandez-Grandon. After all, millions of years of evolution have trained the 鈥榮keeters to find you eventually.
鈥淎 little bit of citric acid鈥r these other floral compounds is probably not going to throw them off the goal,鈥 he says.