Nanobugs join together to make a big stink!Well, the summer has heated up and the humidity is making these Nebraska days feel like “a day at the spa” –specifically in the sauna. All this sweating increases the potential for bad body odor. Sweat itself is basically odorless – certainly not offensive (unless you have been eating foods with strong odors – like garlic and onions). However, unpleasant or offensive odors develop when bacteria on the skin are allowed to multiply and break down the sweat into odor-causing by-products. Bacteria grow best in a warm, dark, moist environment and so hot sweaty skin enhances their multiplication and will eventually produce a strong odor. Several of the nanobugs are to blame for this socially-isolating situation. The main contributor is Corynebacterium acnes – one of the Diphtheroids but Staph aureus and Staph epiidemitis can make a stinky contribution, too . These nanobugs “hang out” in the hair follicles and the creases in your skin (especially the underarms and groin where it is warm dark and moist). What’s the solution? Your response is probably: anti-perspirants!! Many choose this strategy – to stop the sweat (in their armpits) – thus eliminating the culture media that sweat provides. Most anti-perspirants contain aluminum chloride and work by plugging the sweat glands and limiting production of the sweat. Deodorants work to slow the multiplication of bacteria and the production of those stinky by-products. Ingredients like tea tree oil, lemongrass and oriental cypress are natural ingredients that help to control odors. But the most common strategy is the use of a combination of deodorant and anti-perspirant. Because it is not practical or wise to apply those chemicals to our entire skin surface , a good bath of shower once a day (or twice daily in this hot weather) will eliminate a lot of the nanobugs and slow down the multiplication of those that are still there after bathing. Remember – usually you don’t have to kill bacteria, just wash them off of your skin and out of your clothes and send them down the drain. Antibacterial soaps are not really necessary and the chemicals used in these formulations can be irritating to the skin. Good mechanical cleansing with soap (to decrease surface tension and help release the bacteria) and thorough rinsing is an effective and economical strategy. Some further discussion of summer stink: My grandchildren were semi-willingly helping to clean up their yard on Tuesday afternoon. It was hot and humid but we decided to work together to quickly complete the project – which involved picking up litter, cutting up tree branches and sticks and pulling weeds in the rock beds. As the foreman of this less- than- ambitious work crew, I had assigned Shelby (age 11) to collect litter in a cardboard box and take it to the trash dumpster near the alley. She was refusing this seemingly easy task and finally admitted that she couldn’t stand the smell of the inside of the trash dumpster that escapes when you lift the lid. I explained that the nanobugs had been “partying” in there with the rotting garbage and created the usual but powerful stink of a trash container on a hot summer day. Shelby was mumbling about the need for an effective solution to this stinky garbage situation –as though I should resolve this microbiological challenge and eliminate her exposure. I had no ideas for preventing or curing that particular stink – I guess we all just accept it.
This entry was posted on July 18th, 2008 at 12:00 am. RSS
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