Jul 29, 2021 – Sometimes it can be hard to tell if you have bad breath and it can be embarrassing to ask someone to check if it’s fresh. But thanks to science, there may soon be an easier way to find out.
Researchers are now working on a sensor to detect hydrogen sulfide, the gas that makes your breath stink. Sometimes bad breath can appear or it can be a chronic condition known as halitosis. It can be caused by food, poor oral hygiene, illness, or other things. The subject has inspired a number of complex experiments aimed at detecting the odor-causing gas without the human sense of smell.
Now researchers have developed a small sensor that can do just that.
The team – led by Il-Doo Kim, PhD, of the Advanced Institute of Science and Technology in South Korea – subjected a solution of metal salt, sodium chloride, platinum metal nanoparticles, and tungsten, a rare metal, to a manufacturing technique called electrospinning, in which tiny fibers getting produced.
Previous studies have shown that when metal oxides react with sulfur-containing gases, they exhibit electrical changes that can be measured. So the researchers heated their nanofibers, which oxidized the tungsten.
The nanofibers reacted most strongly to hydrogen sulfide when their solution contained equal amounts of platinum and tungsten. The researchers tested several other sulphurous gases such as dimethyl sulfide and methyl mercaptan, but their fibers were the most susceptible to hydrogen sulfide.
A tiny prototype
A prototype for the detection of bad breath combined with nanofiber coated gold electrodes with sensors that detect gas, humidity, temperature and pressure. It correctly identifies halitosis from exhaled air in 86% of cases, without special collection or filtering equipment.
A small device could be made for quick and easy self-diagnosis of bad breath, the researchers say.
Until then, the best way to prevent bad breath smelling is to avoid guilty foods and tobacco, and to brush and floss frequently. Scrape your tongue, rinse your mouth, and consider chewing sugar-free gum to keep your mouth moist and fresh.
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ACS Nano: “Surface activity-matched metal oxide chemiresistor: On the way to direct and quantitative halitosis diagnosis.”
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