Why is armpit sweat much more pungent than sweat from other areas of the body, such as back sweat?
In: Biology
Bacteria. Most of the foul odor we ascribe to sweat is actually caused by skin bacteria. Your armpit is a fairly unique environment where bacteria can remain relatively moist and protected from the outside, which is also why groin sweat can be rather pungent. Sweat on other parts of your body, say on your face, will come into contact with normal skin bacteria, but not for as long before drying off, which means that there is both less bacteria and different kinds of bacteria living on your face than your armpit. Sweat by itself is fairly odorless since its just salty water.
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