I have some padded bike shorts I'd like to wear on a bike ride, but I'm getting pretty in my head about poop particles getting into the shorts and not washing out in the wash.

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[+] [S] -6 points 1 day ago (2 children)

If you can smell a fart, you are smelling poop aerosols.

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  • [–] 3 points 1 day ago (1 child)

    Not necessarily, gasses smell too.

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  • [–] [S] 1 point 22 hours ago (1 child)

    I hadn't considered this! So when you poop in the toilet, the bad smell is partially from gases, not entirely from airborne poop particles?

    I'm also really sketched out about how belly button lint is from underwear, but i guess that's off the topic.

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  • [–] 2 points 19 hours ago (1 child)

    Definitely partly from the gaseous byproducts of digestion, yes.

    Also poop aerosols, but not exclusively.

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  • [–] [S] 1 point 50 minutes ago* (last edited 44 minutes ago)

    That makes a lot of sense. I searched and found a good article on the subject: https://www.sciencetimes.com/articles/48224/20240117/why-poop-smell-bad-science-behind-unpleasant-odor-stool.htm

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Skatole?wprov=sfla1 (this is a volatile, airborne chemical)

    This is from the Wikipedia article on human feces. Did not link it because content advisory: pictures of human feces. According to this, it is mostly volatile organic compounds, and I'm not seeing anything about smell aerosols.

    Odor

    Feces possesses physiological odor, which can vary according to diet and health status. For example, meat protein is rich in the amino acid methionine, which is a precursor of the sulfur-containing odorous compounds listed below.^[12][13][14][15][16]^ The odor of human feces is suggested to be made up from the following odorant volatiles:^[13]^

    (H2S) is the most common volatile sulfur compound in feces.^[13]^ The odor of feces may be increased when various pathologies are present, including:^[17]^

    Attempts to reduce the odor of feces (and flatus) are largely based on animal research carried out with industrial applications, such as reduced environmental impact of pig farming. See also: Flatulence#Management, odor. Many dietary modifications/supplements have been researched, including:

    Ok, this is really weird. According to the flatus page, it implies that some people have complete voluntary control of their gas releases...?? It doesn't come as a surprise to them??

    Incontinence of flatus

    "Gas incontinence" could be defined as loss of voluntary control over the passage of flatus. It is a recognised subtype of faecal incontinence, and is usually related to minor disruptions of the continence mechanisms. Some consider gas incontinence to be the first, sometimes only, symptom of faecal incontinence.^[14]^

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