Overview
- University of Maryland researchers tested a clip-on electrochemical sensor in 19 healthy adults for one week during waking hours and recorded an average of 32 flatus events per day.
- Individual counts varied widely, ranging from 4 to 59 daily events, indicating substantial person-to-person differences in gas production.
- The device tracks hydrogen as a direct proxy for gut microbial fermentation and detected increases after inulin consumption with 94.7% sensitivity.
- Researchers attribute the long-cited 14-per-day figure to self-reporting and short, invasive lab methods that miss many events, reinforcing the need for objective measurement.
- The Human Flatus Atlas is enrolling U.S. adults for mail-in participation with day-and-night monitoring, and the technology has pending patents and a license to Ventoscity LLC, though current prototypes do not record on the toilet.