Why is armpit sweat much more pungent than sweat from other areas of the body, such as back sweat?

Question

Why is armpit sweat much more pungent than sweat from other areas of the body, such as back sweat?

In: Biology

Answer 1

Apocrine sweat glands start working around puberty. They are attached to hair follicles in the armpits and groin areas. They produce an oily substance rich in protein that certain bacteria on the skin’s surface consume. The waste products from the bacteria is what produces the odor.

Interestingly, a variant of the ABCC11 gene prevents the production of the proteins in the apocrine sweat glands that bacteria use to produce body odor. Only 2% of White/Caucasian people have this gene (I am one of them). This gene also causes ear wax to be white and crumbly rather than yellow/brown/red and wet or sticky.

So if you have white and crumbly ear wax, you might not even need to wear deodorant.