Thanks to extensive marketing by deodorant companies, researchers have found that even those who are genetically blessed not to have body odor also use deodorants. These numbers might even be as high as one million.
It is considered to be a cultural norm for Britons to use deodorants everyday, whether they have problems with body odor or not. Whereas genetic variants from other parts of the world like North East Asia are aware of their condition and abstain from using perfume unnecessarily. According to the same research almost 2% of the population have the genetic variation, yet three among four of them use deodorants. These 2% could have withheld more than 12 million pounds from the hands of the deodorant industry, (which earned 604 million pounds in 2011), by just not spraying or rubbing fragrances, which they actually don’t need.
Sweat is produced from our sweat glands and when combined with certain bacteria, it produces underarm odor. Those who do not have odor problems are blessed with a gene variant known as ABCC11 and people with dry earwax are most likely to have this gene variance, unlike the majority having sticky earwax. The authors of the paper have suggested that a simply gene test can create awareness among people and save them from wasting money by following unnecessary socio-cultural norms, like using deodorants when not needed.
