How do I smell? The potential of body odor in human personal identification

Abstract

The ability of canines to discriminate among individuals lead scientists to believe, a long time ago, that every human has a unique scent. Development of physicochemical analytical techniques enabled testing and further researching these expectations. Sensitive and reliable SPME-GC/MS method allows detection and identification of volatile organic compounds comprising individual scent, whose presence in odor is constant and can, therefore, be used for personal authentication. Ongoing studies further demonstrate the efficiency of chemical sensors, such as the E-nose, in real-time personal recognition. In this paper, factors defining human scent, as well as the possibility of utilizing body odor as a novel biometric identifier, were presented. The advantages and limitations of mentioned techniques, as well as future directions for experimental studies, were also considered. Finally, the possibility of utilizing body odor in police work for locating human remains and sniffing out the wrongdoers was given.