Odours

Odours emitted by multi-source facilities, like industrial complexes, have become a major concern for local authorities because the resulting annoyance in the neighbourhood is generally high compex compared to a single source one. In the case of such multi-source odour emissions especially, common chemical analyses or odour concentration measurement methods are not often applicable. This paper describes the methodology adopted for assessing the odour impact on the industrial area of the city of Salerno (Italy), caused by the co-presence of two strategic plants: wastewater treatment plant and composting plant of organic fraction of solid waste. The combination of olfactometric analyses and dispersion modelling allowed both the quantification of the odour emissions and the evaluation of their potential impact on the surrounding areas. Odour impact criteria, input parameters and emissive rate were evaluated. Results discuss and compare different emissive scenarios to assessment odour impacts in the industrial area.

One of the most common topoi in hagiography is the so-called « odour of sanctity ». However, the meanings of this idiom differ and can be metaphorical, one’s reputation for outstanding moral virtues, or literal, the actual sensory perception of an extraordinary fragrance.
In a rationalist or hypercritical approach, frequent in the 19th and 20th centuries, historians considered medieval narratives of extraordinary odours repetitious stereotypes and therefore of no significance.
Following recent scholarship , I am convinced that we should take the medieval narratives seriously and analyse their contexts of production and reception as well as the material culture of their time.
Whilst modern western societies have lost most of their ancient olfactory culture, contemporary scientists, both from the natural and the social disciplines, rediscover year after year the richness and complexities of odours and olfactory perceptions. These characteristics are illustrated by the manifestly paradoxical qualities of odours. They are perceptible but also impalpable and often invisible, and they can symbolize, even realize, communication with supernatural beings, whilst remaining ephemeral. Odours can fill a physical space as well as a human person.
Thus, odors and fragrances stand at the juncture between different dimensions of human life: the natural, the physiological, the social, the imaginary, and the religious dimensions.
The study of ancient and medieval hagiography allows us not only to trace the early occurrences and meanings of the “odour of sanctity”, but also (and this is even more important) to understand to what extent, and in which ways, good and bad odours contributed to defining identities and alterities, both of individuals and groups. This is what I propose to examine in the Western early Middle Ages (ca 5th to 9th Century) .

Les récits du haut Moyen Âge relatant la perception d’odeurs extraordinaires se révèlent autrement plus riches et complexes que ne le laisse penser leur apparence stéréotypée. Une étude attentive permet de montrer qu’ils s’appuient sur des notions et des représentations, ainsi que sur des pratiques et des usages concrets, propres à la culture de l’Antiquité tardive et du haut Moyen Âge. En retour, ces récits éclairent et justifient les autres éléments de l’ensemble.
En poussant plus loin l’analyse, l’historien peut aborder ces textes dans une perspective renouvelée en recourant à la notion d’« expérience religieuse », dans la mesure où cette dernière est, elle aussi, nécessairement liée à un contexte social et culturel.
Certes, avec leurs conventions, les sources narratives ne nous permettent pas d’accéder sans obstacles aux perceptions et aux représentations des hommes et des femmes du passé. Cependant, en se montrant attentif à leurs différents contextes d’élaboration et d’utilisation, l’historien peut sortir des ornières des approches hyper-critiques ou naïvement rationalistes, et dégager la signification et la portée des récits narrant la perception d’odeurs prodigieuses, leur « vérité ».

« 14 Grâce soit rendue à Dieu qui, par le Christ, nous emmène en tout temps dans son triomphe et qui, par nous, répand en tout lieu le parfum de sa connaissance (τὴν ὀσμὴν τῆς γνώσεως αὐτοῦ φανεροῦντι δι’ ἡμῶν ἐν παντὶ τόπῳ). 15 De fait, nous sommes pour Dieu la bonne odeur du Christ (Χριστοῦ εὐωδία), pour ceux qui se sauvent et pour ceux qui se perdent ; 16 pour les uns, odeur de mort qui conduit à la mort (ὀσμὴ ἐκ θανάτου εἰς θάνατον), pour les autres, odeur de vie qui conduit à la vie (ὀσμὴ ἐκ ζωῆς εἰς ζωήν). » (2Corinthiens 2,14-16 ; TOB). Pour approcher la difficile question de la représentation que se fait de la Bible du monde des odeurs, nous allons passer par une porte d’entrée dérobée, c’est-à-dire par ce texte extrêmement mystérieux, qui a donné lieu à une très abondante littérature tentant de l’interpréter1. Elle est en effet étrange cette déclaration de Paul de Tarse, tellement ramassée qu’elle en devient obscure : pourquoi l’apôtre compare-t-il le Christ à une odeur ? Pourquoi se compare-t-il lui aussi à ce même parfum ? Le contexte ne nous aide pas vraiment à comprendre cette référence à un monde des odeurs avec lequel nous sommes de toute façon mal à l’aise. En effet, l’affirmation tombe abruptement au beau milieu d’un long passage dans lequel l’apôtre narre ses difficiles relations avec la communauté de Corinthe et qui se termine par une simple déclaration factuelle : « J’ai donc pris congé [des habitants de Troas] et je suis parti pour la Macédoine. » Quel rapport avec cette curieuse action de grâces ? Pour éclairer ces trois versets, c’est toute la Bible qu’il va falloir parcourir, en quête de la manière dont elle comprend les bonnes et les mauvaises odeurs.

This essay examines the question of empathy within the discourses of caste in India and argues that the presence of this deeply hierarchical system, which is premised on the idea of disgust, does not allow for the production of empathy or empathic political
spaces. Locating itself in a particular case of caste violence and its counter discourse in the Una District of the state of Gujarat in western India, this essay examines the affectual politics of the presence of the animal and the animal-like in caste publics and
the consequences that it has for the question of empathy.

Over the past nearly 35 years, there has been sporadic interest in what has commonly come to be known as the Proust phenomenon, whereby autobiographical memories are retrieved and experienced differently when evoked by odors as compared to other types of cues, such as words, images or sounds. The purpose of this review is three-fold. First, we provide a detailed analysis of the methods used to investigate Proust effects. Second, we review and analyze the various findings from the literature and determine what we feel to be the most important and stable findings. Third, we provide a series of previously postulated and new hypotheses that attempt to account for the various findings. Given the early stage of research, the current review aims to provide a measure of organization to the field, as well serve as a guide for how future investigations may address the topic. We conclude with the recommendation that research in this area shift its focus from establishing the phenomenon towards explaining its causes.

Odours from stabilized biosolids after anaerobic digestion of wastewater sludge can cause local community impact. Apart from the well-known odorants such as sulfur compounds, contributions from other volatile organic compounds (VOCs) to nuisance odours is limited. The presence of compounds with low odour detection thresholds (ODTs) at low concentrations, can present challenges for analytical identification. Thirty-six biosolids samples were taken after anaerobic stabilisation and dewatering at a wastewater treatment plant, Sydney, Australia. Biosolid cake samples were stored outside in loosely covered trays under aerobic conditions, however without interactions with soil microorganisms as it would be in reality. All biosolids cake samples were analysed over a period of 35 days. Emissions were collected onto Tenax TA sorbent tubes using a U.S. EPA flux hood method at storage days 1, 3, 7, 10, 14, 21 and 35. Gas chromatography (GC) coupled with mass spectrometer detector (MSD) and an olfactory detection port (ODP) was used to identify a musty/moldy/earthy type odorant in the biosolids emissions as 2,4,6-trichloroanisole (TCA). Measured odour intensities, classified on a scale from 1 to 4, and odour characters were specified by three ODP assessors. TCA was identified in all biosolid cake emissions. The measured odour intensities of the TCA did not significantly alter as the biosolids were aged, however varied between biosolids cakes. Due to its odour intensity, 85% frequency of detection and its low ODT, which is orders of magnitudes lower than sulfur compounds, TCA should be considered as a potential odorant of concern in biosolids emissions.

Odor characterization of a wetland area in Florianópolis (Brazil) through olfactometric analyses.The disposal of domestic residue, especially of sewage, in natural wetland areas, is common in coastal cities. These effluents, highly concentrated in organic matter, alter significantly the ecosystem’s natural dynamics, leading to a great variety in its physical and chemical conditions. Anoxic conditions tend to prevail due to the oxygen consumption by microorganisms working on degrading the excess load of organic matter. The activity of sulfate-reducing bacteria produce H2S (an extremely odorous gas), which is the main source of odors in these areas. Environmental odors are inherent parts of any given situation or process and may provoke an array of reactions. This is a frequent cause of public environmental discomfort. In Brazil, there are no standard practices established for olfactometry (the measurement of a jury response to an olfactory stimulus). This makes it important that stan...

The text deals with an issue of reading images as a way of perceiving the osmosphere. The author observes that eyesight might enhance other sensory modalities, provided that the eye no longer is isolated from natural interaction with the environment which has olfactory properties, but also audio and haptic. The analysis is related to two possibilities of reasoning about smells based on visual data. In the fi rst case, the photograph appeals to the olfactory memory and serve as a tool to elicit a narration on scents from a person. In the second case, the use of the olfactory imagination seems to be necessary as a sort of subconscious for the hegemonic eye. The image an individual can see evokes internal representations, which should be taken into account when analysing and interpreting the urban space. To begin with, I should explain why I am concerned with documenting scents. It is due to my work as a researcher and lecturer, in which the relationship between the eye and the nose, although not of primary importance, is of substantial supplementary signifi cance. The research I have thus far conducted, and the results of which I have published, pertain to the anthropology of waste and the sanitary culture of Warsaw. 1 The research has often entailed physical contact with waste, and necessitated illustrating my articles with photos of the scatological places to authenticate their stenches. Since fi lth produces intensive odours, I could empirically experience that urban space is indeed marked and segregated by smell, regardless of the code of the modern culture's obsession with hygiene. The city and cityscapes without scents would be devoid of identity, as was probably fi rst noticed by Georg Simmel. 2 1 W.K. Pessel, Antropologia nieczystości. Studia z historii kultury sanitarnej Warszawy, Wydawnictwo Trio,

Mus musculus is a pest in urban and rural habitats where it consumes and contaminates food and may transmit diseases to human and domestic animals. Its control by anticoagulants is partially effective because of aversive behaviours and resistance. In this context, we wanted to assess the potential of the use of predator odours as repellents in experimental feeding trials using urine and faeces of domestic cats and faeces of geoffroyi cat, a wild small felid that is one of the main rodent predators in the study area. We also assessed the effect of previous experience and moonlight on foraging activity. We did not find an aversive response to cat odours in Mus musculus individuals. There was a trend to consume food in the same feeding stations over time, and the visit rate was lower in periods with high moonlight than in periods with low moonlight. Predator odours did not seem to be useful as rodent repellents, but maintaining illumination may lower rodent foraging activity. As rodent...

In everyday life people are simultaneously exposed to several annoying sources (sounds, vibrations and odours), which emerge from background of considerable variability of land uses, infrastructures, residential patterns, topography, meteorology condition, and standards quality of life. The European Union has provided in recent years (and is going to update) several tools to harmonize noise mapping methodologies and relative Noise Action Plans through directives and guidelines. Unfortunately the same efforts have not been put in the harmonization of approaches in other annoying sources like odours. As a consequence, each European Member State at national or even at local level defined its own direct or indirect approach to limit odour impacts, usually considerably different one from the others. The most common approach to deal with noise impact at a policy, economic and strategy level is the use of priority indices focused to highlight areas more sensitive and where mitigation actio...

The paper examines a single moment of defiance by the
lower-caste leatherworking castes against the violence perpetuated against them by the Hindu Right groups in India on charges of killing and consuming the holy cow. The paper argues that when these lower-caste groups deliberately threw cattle carcasses into the public,
instead of ‘cleaning’ them up as ritually required, they inaugurated the carcass as a political subject. In constituting itself around death, the animal carcass complicates the idea of the sacred animal put forth by
the Hindu Right, thereby introducing a distinct kind of affect into the political public—the affect of rot and decay. By throwing these carcasses out from the slaughterhouses, abbatoirs and tanneries into the
full public sensorium, the leatherworking castes introduce caste, with all its sights, tastes and odours, into the political public. The paper thus argues for considering the carcass as a specific kind of malodourous political subject.

One of the most reliable methods for the prediction of odour impact from environmental facilities, strongly influenced by topography and local atmospheric dynamics, involves the use of atmospheric dispersion models.The present study focuses on the implementation of a dispersion model for the prediction of odour impact from a large and complex landfill system, localized in Borgo Montello (Latina), in the Lazio Region (Central Italy). The Calpuff dispersion model was selected for the simulations of odour impact, since it is well recognized as the preferred model for assessing the long range transport of pollutants. The odour emission rates, which are the inputs to the dispersion model, were defined on the basis of dynamic olfactometric analyses on air samples taken in the landfills areas. Different scenarios were simulated, with the aim of evaluating the odour impact caused by a project of landfill expansion through height raise. The environmental odour impacts were assessed through t...

Industrial plants with odour emissions affect the quality of air and are often cause of public complaints by the people living surrounding the plant. For this reason, the control of odour represent a key issue. The starting point for an effective odour control it"s their objective quantification. The electronic nose represent the odour measurement technique with probably the greatest potential, but currently there is not a universally recognized procedure of their application for the continuous monitoring of environmental odours.The aim of this paper is to present and describe a novel procedure to training electronic noses in order to maximize their capability of operating a qualitative classification and estimating the odour concentration of ambient air. This novel approach will reduce the uncertainty and increase the reliability of the continuous odour measures. The research is carried out through a real case study application in a big liquid waste treatment plant (LWTP). The seedOA system, patented by the SEED group of the University of Salerno, was used as e.nose device. The characterization of the odour concentrations from the different treatment units and the identification of the principal odour sources is discussed.