![Men and women's hands can be distinguished just from their scent 1 A group of hands](https://i0.wp.com/images.newscientist.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/05143255/SEI_162915272.jpg?resize=696%2C465&ssl=1)
The scent compounds given off by your hands can be used to detect gender
Ievgen Chabanov/Alamy
The analysis of scent compounds from a person’s hand can reveal whether they are a man or woman, which could help police work out what happened at a crime scene.
Human odour is a complex mixture of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) secreted from the body. These chemicals are a product of genetics, the environment and body secretions.
To see what information can be gleaned from them, Kenneth Furton at Florida International University and his colleagues …