Some people really are mosquito magnets, and unfortunately, they’re stuck that way.
The Scientific American says certain compounds in the skin determine how much people attract mosquitoes, and those compounds don’t change much over time.
In a new paper published on October 18 in the journal Cell, researchers suggest that certain body odors are the deciding factor.
Every person has a unique scent profile made up of different chemical compounds, and the researchers found that mosquitoes were most drawn to people whose skin produces high levels of carboxylic acids.
Additionally, the researchers found that peoples’ attractiveness to mosquitoes remained steady over time, regardless of changes in diet or grooming habits.