[thedoc (OP)]

Vincent asked the Naked Scientists:
   
I just would like to know whether The Naked Scientist could shed some light on the reason why my skin has a peculiar smell when it is exposed to the sun. I have looked for skin smell/odour/odor sun" on Google (in several languages), Google Scholar, Web of Science and Scopus, to no avail.

I'm a dark-haired white male, with a skin a bit more tanned than the average. I don't have a strong BO at all. When my skin is exposed to sunlight that is intense enough to make it sweat a bit, it then produces a peculiar smell. It doesn't smell bad; the sent is not sweaty nor musky.

I don't know whether the smell directly comes from some volatile compounds that my skin produces when exposed to the sun or is due to the action of the sun on my skin's sweat.

I have talked about that to other people, but no one seems to be subject to the production of that smell. However, I have a very good sense of smell (definitely above the average) and it may be possible that everyone produces that smell, but a good sense of smell is required to perceive it.

I hope that you can help me understanding this phenomenon.
Many thanks in advance for your input !
Vincent

What do you think?

[Finder]

Hello, while I realize I'm answering a two year old post, it still was one of the first google results when I too looked for information about sun-skin-smells.  I too am white male (around 40 years old), and I always get a peculiar smell after sunbathing. I actually enjoy the smell, and it accentuates if I first breathe out (slowly) moist air onto the skin, before breathing it in/smelling it. It's not as I keep doing this all the time, but I do notice it sometimes.

I remember this also from when I was a kid, in school when we had sport hours outside in the late spring on a sunny day (like when playing the local equivalent of baseboll), when I noticed the smell. Then I erroneously connected the smell to getting sand on my hands or similar, and thought it actually was the sand that smelled, but I still remember the smell sensation then and now 30 years later also have the same smell. I don't at this time know if other people think this sun-smell of mine is pleasant or not, I guess I will have to ask somebody some time.

I have no actual answer to the question though, what might cause this smell.  I do work as a medical doctor, but have never learned anything that could cause this smell. Other than facts like sun-on-skin-creating-d-vitamin-out-of-cholesterol, but I'd be a bit surprised if that had anything to do with the smell...

Just for your (or anybody's) information.

[Marijn_98]

I just googled this out of curiosity. And I also experience a particular smell when the sun shines on your skin. Especially when you breath on your skin that is exposed to sunlight. I am also a white male (19year) and as far as I know I dont have a significant better sense of smell than other people.
PS: I do not experience this as a bad smell.

Marijn

[juliabulia245]

I also Googled to try to find the answer to why my skin smells different when exposed to sunlight and found no definitive answer... my initial hunch is that it could have something to do with Vitamin D production, though, or perhaps some other substance the body creates when exposed to sunlight. Typical "sweat" does not require sunlight, just exertion. For me, I get this "sun scent" when I am exposed to sunlight for long periods of time, regardless of whether or not I'm sweating, and regardless of whether or not I'm actually outside or just inside lounging by a window. This rules out what others on different sites have proposed as an "outside smell."

Finder, do you have any more information about the body's production of Vitamin D? Are there any chemists/pharmacists/whatever-type-of-science-ists out there who work with Vitamin D that can attest to its odor, or lack thereof? Or do you think maybe it's the interaction of Vitamin D with other body chemicals that produces this distinct odor?

A related post I found in another Naked Science thread about "old people smells" referenced the fact that diabetes causes people to smell different, and this is typically more prevalent in elderly people. So it's certainly not impossible to think that sweat is not the only thing that causes our bodies to have an odor. I agree with other posters that this odor is not "bad" per se, just... different.

For what it's worth, I am a female in my 20s - just thought I'd add the statistic, since all previous posts have been males...