Evaluating Body Odor Sampling Phases Prior to Analysis

Although gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) is widely used for volatile organic compounds (VOC) analysis, a wide range of sampling and extraction methods exist for analysts, which can lead to different (or even contradictory) results. To move toward standardized procedures, a joint study between ESPCI Paris (France) and SenseDetect Health-Care (Aigremont, France) compared five sampling phases for direct body odor sampling in terms of analytical cleanliness and VOC trapping and release efficiency—gauze, glass beads, polymer sticks (specifically PowerSorb), microtubes (manufactured by Getxent), and passive sampling pillows (PSP). Given the matrix's complexity and the need to detect trace-level compounds, comprehensive two-dimensional gas chromatography coupled with time-of-flight mass spectrometry (GC×GC/ToFMS) was used to achieve high sensitivity and peak capacity. A paper based on this study was published in Analytical and Bioanalytical Chemistry (1).

Body odor is a biological matrix comprised of a complex mixture of over 500 VOCs of varying polarities and volatilities. These VOCs are released from the body and are found at levels of parts per million (ppm) or billion (ppb) (2,3). The composition of the body volatolome (defined as all the volatile metabolites as well as other volatile organic and inorganic compounds that originate from an organism [4]) can be influenced by numerous factors, such as genetics, environments, diet, or metabolic state (5). The study of the body volatolome therefore holds significant potential for various applications. To a forensic scientist, it can serve as a biometric tool for suspect identification (6). To a member of the medical profession, it can help to identify biomarkers through the highlighting of VOC changes related to specific pathologies, therefor facilitating noninvasive diagnosis (7). Despite its potential, however, the application of body odor analysis in these fields is limited by the lack of standardized protocols for sampling and analysis, which hinders the comparison and reproduction of results/experiments, reducing the reliability of findings (1).

In the context of body odor study, comprehensive two-dimensional gas chromatography (GC×GC) has been, according to the research published, increasingly recommended and employed (5-9), with one study in particular demonstrating that the technique enhanced sensitivity by a factor of 10 to 50 relative to conventional GC (10). This inspired researchers to leverage the advantages of using thermodesorption, followed by GC×GC/ToFMS, to compare and evaluate gauze, glass beads, PowerSorb, Getxent microtubes, and the passive sampling pillow (PSP, a sampling phase developed by the US Army) as sampling phases for body odor (1).

The authors state that their study appears to be an important step in developing a body odor sampling system, given the central role played by the sampling phase when using GC×GC/ToFMS. They believe that their next objective would be to find a way to maintain and fix this phase close to the skin without running thew risk of additional contamination. This final objective is to provide a high-performance solution which may be deployed in the performance of large-scale clinical studies aimed at the identification of volatile biomarkers of pathology. While the achievement of satisfactory reduction of background noise related to VOC emission produced by the sampling system itself would be, in the research team’s opinion, the main challenge, the achievement would allow for the implementation of advanced computing and chemometric data processing techniques, which they believe to be necessary for this type of research (1,11).

Young woman sweating, uncomfortable with stinking smelly odor. © 9nong - stock.adobe.com

References

1. Boudard, E.; Fisson, L.; Moumane, N. et al. Study of Sampling Phases for Body Odor Sampling Prior to Analysis by TD-GC×GC/ToFMS. Anal. Bioanal. Chem. 2025. DOI: 10.1007/s00216-025-05857-5

2. de Lacy Costello, B.; Amann, A.;Al-Kateb, H. et al. A Review of the Volatiles from the Healthy Human Body. J. Breath Res. 2014, 8, 014001. DOI: 10.1088/1752-7155/8/1/014001

3. Angle, C.; Waggoner, L. P.; Ferrando, A. et al. Canine Detection of the Volatilome: A Review of Implications for Pathogen and Disease Detection. Front. Vet. Sci. 2016, 3. DOI: 10.3389/fvets.2016.00047.

4. Volatilome. Wikipedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Volatilome (accessed 2025-04-17)

5. Cuzuel, V.; Cognon, G.; Rivals, I. et al. Analytical Characterization, and Use of Human Odor in Forensics. J. Forensic Sci. 2017, 62(2), 330-350. DOI: 10.1111/1556-4029.13394

6. Cuzuel, V.; Portas, E.; Cognon, G. et al. Sampling Method Development and Optimization in View of Human Hand Odor Analysis by Thermal Desorption Coupled with Gas Chromatography and Mass Spectrometry. Anal. Bioanal. Chem. 2017, 409(21), 5113-5124. DOI: 10.1007/s00216-017-0458-8

7. Maidodou, L.; Clarot, I.; Leemans, M. et al. Unraveling the Potential of Breath and Sweat VOC Capture Devices for Human Disease Detection: A Systematic-
Like Review of Canine Olfaction and GC-MS Analysis. Front. Chem. 2023, 11, 1282450. DOI: 10.3389/fchem.2023.1282450

8. Peters, R.; Veenstra, R.; Heutinck, K. et al. Human Scent Characterization: A Review. Forensic Sci. Int. 2023, 349, 111743. DOI: 10.1016/j.forsciint.2023.111743

9. Rankin-Turner, S.; McMeniman, C. J. A Headspace Collection Chamber for Whole Body Volatilomics. Analyst 2022, 147(22), 5210-5222. DOI: 10.1039/d2an01227h

10. Franchina, F. A.; Zanella, D.; Dubois, L. M. et al. The Role of Sample Preparation in Multidimensional Gas Chromatographic Separations for Non-Targeted Analysis with the Focus on Recent Biomedical, Food, and Plant Applications. J. Sep. Sci. 2021, 44(1), 188-210. DOI: 10.1002/jssc.202000855

11. Boudard, E.; Moumane, N.; Dugay, J. et al. Body Volatilome Study Strategy for COVID-19 Biomarker Identification Considering Exogenous Parameters. Separations 2024, 11, 336. DOI: 10.3390/separations11120336.