Odors & Health

  • Odors and Wellness is available in Portable Document Format (PDF).

What are odors?

An scent is another discussion for a smell. When you notice an odor, that tells yous that you are exposed to something in the air that triggered your sense of odor. An olfactory property might be due to a single chemical or mixture of chemicals. Chemicals vary in their ability to produce odors and people vary in their ability to smell odors. Smelling an odor doesn't tell how much exposure y'all have. Information technology also doesn't tell you lot whether or not what you are smelling volition cause health furnishings.

folks reacting to coffee shop smells differently

Practise people differ in how they observe odors?

Yeah. People's ability to smell a item odor will vary. At depression levels, some people volition detect the aroma while others won't observe whatsoever. At higher levels, most people will notice the odor. Examples of factors that tin affect a person'due south sense of smell include age, sex and whether or not they smoke.

People likewise may react to odors in different ways. An olfactory property that one person thinks is pleasant may be unpleasant to someone else. For example, many people would walk into a bakery and relish the odour of fresh baked breads and pastries. However, people living near the bakery might not relish those stiff smells every day. Also, people exposed to the same odor for a long fourth dimension may no longer notice the odor, fifty-fifty if it is unpleasant. For instance, people who work with compost or garbage may not observe the smell after a while.

Can odors cause wellness effects?

Chemicals that trigger odors may cause health furnishings. In nearly cases, people will notice an odour well below the level in air that would cause wellness effects. Also, people are non equally sensitive to chemicals and may non exist affected past them in the aforementioned style. Whether or not someone experiences health effects depends upon several factors, including the type of chemical, how full-bodied the chemical is in the air, how long the exposure continues, and whether or not the person smelling the chemical has any particular sensitivities. Wellness symptoms from odour exposures usually go away chop-chop when the odors stop.

Smell is not a reliable way to determine the risk of health effects. For some chemicals, odors will be noticeable at low concentrations where the risk for wellness effects is likewise very depression. For others, such equally carbon monoxide, there is no aroma at any concentration and no warning when people are exposed to dangerous levels.

In some cases, odors can be used to tell whether there is a problem that needs to be fixed. For example, mold problems, sewage backups and gas leaks in the dwelling can all be detected by their scent, even if they can't be seen.

What health furnishings can occur?

Exposure to odors could result in wellness effects ranging from none, to mild discomfort, to more serious symptoms. Some chemicals with strong odors may cause eye, olfactory organ, throat or lung irritation. Strong odors may cause some people to feel a called-for sensation that leads to coughing, wheezing or other breathing problems. People who smell stiff odors may become headaches or feel dizzy or nauseous. If an odor lasts a long fourth dimension or keeps occurring, it likewise could affect mood, anxiety and stress level.

Where practice odors come from?

Odor-producing products and activities are a common part of our daily lives and touch on both outdoor and indoor air quality. For instance, outdoor odors may be produced by chemical, sewage treatment or food processing plants. Paper mills, landfills, dredge spoils or transportation facilities too emit odors. In agronomical communities, you may smell composting, feed lots or manure and sludge spreading. Indoors, everyday activities such equally cooking or cleaning could produce odors. Many personal care products are scented, such as candles and air fresheners. Spilled heating oil or stored petroleum products will also produce odors and may touch indoor air.

graphic showing how folks measure different odors

Can odors exist measured or sampled?

Standard air sampling methods are non designed to measure the wide variety of chemicals that cause odors from well-nigh sources. Even when chemicals that cause odors can be measured, we often tin can smell them at much lower levels than can exist reliably measured. Methods also exist for measuring odors straight using people who are trained equally adept scent "sniffers." However, understanding what the measurements mean for people exposed to odors can be hard because people respond so differently to odors.

What tin can I exercise if I take a trouble with outdoor odors?

Endeavour to keep outdoor odors from inbound your domicile. When outdoor odors are noticeable, shut your windows. Set your heating, air conditioning and ventilation system so that it recirculates the indoor air and does not describe in outdoor air. Of form, if the smell outside is bad and frequent enough to force you indoors, that probably means better controls are needed at the source.

If you are having a problem with a persistent outdoor odor, check with your local wellness department or your Section of Environmental Conservation regional function for advice.

What tin I do if I have a problem with indoor odors?

Try to find the source if you lot have unpleasant indoor odors. These odors might be caused by cleaning products, paints, or solvents that should be stored exterior, in a closed cabinet or discarded. Check for problems with garbage storage or pest infestations. If you take a musty scent, check for moisture issues that could lead to mold growth. The manner to control indoor odors is to discover the source and remove it, or contain it in some way and so that it doesn't release odors. Until the source is removed, opening windows and using fans will increase fresh air ventilation in the home, which will assist reduce odors.

Some people choose to add odors to their indoor infinite, such as air fresheners or scented candles. These scented products merely mask or cover up other odors past calculation more chemicals into the indoor air. They practise non get to the source of the odor problem and could exist irritating or cause allergic reactions for sensitive people. Ozone generators also are not a good choice to control indoor odors. They produce very loftier levels of indoor ozone which tin can be dangerous to breathe.

For more than data...

Call the New York State Health Section at 518-402-7800 or 800-458-1158 or bank check out these websites:

  • About Exposure
  • Landfill Gas
  • Hydrogen Sulfide
  • Avoiding Indoor Air Quality Bug During Roofing
  • Volatile Organic Compounds
  • Mold
  • Petroleum Spills and Flooding
  • Asthma Triggers
  • Environmental Odors (Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry)