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Updated: May 5, 2026

Author Spotlight: Assessing the Olfactory Effects of Airborne Pollutants — Buried Food and Social Odor Tests
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Pregnancy does not affect human olfactory detection thresholds.

E Leslie Cameron1

  • 1Department of Psychological Science, Carthage College, 2001 Alford Park Drive, Kenosha, WI 53140-1994, USA. lcameron@carthage.edu.

Chemical Senses
|December 5, 2013
PubMed
Summary
This summary is machine-generated.

Pregnancy may heighten smell sensitivity, but objective tests show no difference in olfactory function between pregnant and non-pregnant individuals. Self-reported smell perception in pregnancy does not align with measured olfactory sensitivity.

Keywords:
odor thresholdsolfactionpregnancyself-ratingsensitivity

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Area of Science:

  • Neuroscience
  • Physiology
  • Psychology

Background:

  • Anecdotal reports suggest heightened smell sensitivity (hyperosmia) during pregnancy.
  • Empirical evidence using validated olfactory measures remains limited.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To compare olfactory sensitivity between pregnant women, nonpregnant women, and men.
  • To investigate the relationship between self-reported smell perception and objective olfactory function during pregnancy.

Main Methods:

  • Participants rated their sense of smell.
  • Pregnant women identified odors they were most sensitive to.
  • Olfactory detection thresholds were measured using a validated protocol.
  • Signal detection procedures assessed sensitivity longitudinally in pregnant and nonpregnant women.

Main Results:

  • Pregnant women reported higher smell sensitivity, especially in the 1st trimester, and identified more sensitive odors (often unpleasant).
  • Women generally rated their sense of smell higher than men.
  • No significant differences in objective olfactory thresholds or sensitivity measures were found based on sex or pregnancy status.

Conclusions:

  • Self-reported smell perception during pregnancy does not correlate with objective measures of olfactory sensitivity.
  • Pregnancy status and sex do not significantly alter olfactory detection thresholds or sensitivity.