Smelly Facts: A Glance at Anosmia

Anosmia, the general lack of olfaction, can be congenital – that is, a person can be born anosmic. Alternatively, anosmia can occur later in life, either due to brain damage or because of vitamin A deficiency. In contrast, Specific Anosmia is the inability to detect the smell of a single chemical. A small percentage (2%-3%) of the general population for example, is unable to detect the smell of isobutyric acid – the component that makes sweat smelly. (Next time you find yourself suffering next to someone who has forgone the use of deodorant in the bus, you can perhaps distract yourself by wondering whether the reason behind their thoughtless behavior is the fact that they are anosmic to sweat and thus unable to detect their own funk!) Among perfume enthusiasts, the most commonly cited specific anosmia is of course musk anosmia, but in reality, specific anosmias span a much wider range of odors. To give a few examples aside from the aforementioned sweat and musk, other specific anosmias include fish, urine, sperm, camphor, mint and malt.

References: Amoore, 1977, Pelosi & Viti, 1978 and Kalat, 2007.