Set your heating, air conditioning and ventilation system so that it recirculates the indoor air and does not draw in outdoor air. When outdoor odors are noticeable, close your windows. Try to keep outdoor odors from entering your home. What can I do if I have a problem with outdoor odors? Methods also exist for measuring odors directly using people who are trained as expert odor "sniffers." However, understanding what the measurements mean for people exposed to odors can be difficult because people respond so differently to odors.
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Even when chemicals that cause odors can be measured, we often can smell them at much lower levels than can be reliably measured. Standard air sampling methods are not designed to measure the wide variety of chemicals that cause odors from most sources. Spilled heating oil or stored petroleum products will also produce odors and may affect indoor air. Many personal care products are scented, such as candles and air fresheners. Indoors, everyday activities such as cooking or cleaning could produce odors. In agricultural communities, you may smell composting, feed lots or manure and sludge spreading. Paper mills, landfills, dredge spoils or transportation facilities also emit odors. For example, outdoor odors may be produced by chemical, sewage treatment or food processing plants. Odor-producing products and activities are a common part of our daily lives and affect both outdoor and indoor air quality. If an odor lasts a long time or keeps occurring, it also could affect mood, anxiety and stress level. People who smell strong odors may get headaches or feel dizzy or nauseous. Strong odors may cause some people to feel a burning sensation that leads to coughing, wheezing or other breathing problems. Some chemicals with strong odors may cause eye, nose, throat or lung irritation. What health effects can occur?Įxposure to odors could result in health effects ranging from none, to mild discomfort, to more serious symptoms. For instance, mold problems, sewage backups and gas leaks in the home can all be detected by their odor, even if they can't be seen. In some cases, odors can be used to tell whether there is a problem that needs to be fixed. For others, such as carbon monoxide, there is no odor at any concentration and no warning when people are exposed to dangerous levels. For some chemicals, odors will be noticeable at low concentrations where the risk for health effects is also very low. Odor is not a reliable way to determine the risk of health effects. Health symptoms from odor exposures usually go away quickly when the odors stop. Whether or not someone experiences health effects depends upon several factors, including the type of chemical, how concentrated the chemical is in the air, how long the exposure continues, and whether or not the person smelling the chemical has any particular sensitivities. Also, people are not equally sensitive to chemicals and may not be affected by them in the same way. In most cases, people will notice an odor well below the level in air that would cause health effects. Can odors cause health effects?Ĭhemicals that trigger odors may cause health effects. For example, people who work with compost or garbage may not notice the smell after a while. Also, people exposed to the same odor for a long time may no longer notice the odor, even if it is unpleasant. However, people living near the bakery might not enjoy those strong smells every day. For example, many people would walk into a bakery and enjoy the smell of fresh baked breads and pastries. An odor that one person thinks is pleasant may be unpleasant to someone else. People also may react to odors in different ways. Examples of factors that can affect a person's sense of smell include age, sex and whether or not they smoke.
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At higher levels, most people will notice the odor. At low levels, some people will notice the odor while others won't notice any. People's ability to smell a particular odor will vary. Do people differ in how they notice odors? It also doesn't tell you whether or not what you are smelling will cause health effects. Smelling an odor doesn't tell how much exposure you have. Chemicals vary in their ability to produce odors and people vary in their ability to smell odors. An odor might be due to a single chemical or mixture of chemicals. When you notice an odor, that tells you that you are exposed to something in the air that triggered your sense of smell.
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