Ambient Odors in an Industrial City: Evaluation of Human Olfactory Perception and Health Impact

Introduction: The study is devoted to the relationship between perceptions of ambient malodors and health of the population in an industrial city.

Objective: To study how the perception of malodors affects health of the population using a set of sociological methods.

Materials and methods: In 2022, we carried out a questionnaire-based survey of 719 residents of a city with the population of about 90 thousand people. The questionnaire contained questions allowing us to assess the frequency, intensity of perception of ambient odors, as well as the degree of annoyance of the population caused by them. The respondents were also asked to specify their health complaints and chronic diseases. Statistical data processing was performed using IBM SPSS Statistics 20. Intergroup comparisons were evaluated using the chi-squared test.

Results: Our findings showed the presence of a whole range of obsessive malodors in the urban ambient air that annoy residents and worsen their quality of life. According to the respondents, the main sources of malodors are industrial enterprises (32 %) and traffic (28.4 %), while the degree of related annoyance correlates with self-assessed environmental conditions. The frequency of inhalation exposure, the intensity of the surrounding malodors, and the degree of annoyance are associated with the presence of such symptoms as headaches, dizziness, nausea, chest pain, as well as nervousness, depression, fatigue, etc. The degree of annoyance caused by malodors is associated with the frequency of self-rated stressful situations and demonstrates a significant relationship with the presence of diseases of the endocrine system, digestive organs and circulatory system, which are the first targets of maladaptive stress.

Conclusions: The study highlights the importance of malodors for the quality of life of the population and the need to take measures to reduce their negative impact on environment and human health.

1. Lowman A, McDonald MA, Wing S, Muhammad N. Land application of treated sewage sludge: Community health and environmental justice. Environ Health Perspect. 2013;121(5):537–542. doi: 10.1289/ehp.1205470

2. Government of Alberta. Odours and Human Health. Environmental Public Health Science Unit, Health Protection Branch, Public Health and Compliance Division, Alberta Health. Edmonton, Alberta; 2017.

3. Guadalupe-Fernandez V, De Sario M, Vecchi S, et al. Industrial odour pollution and human health: A systematic review and meta-analysis. Environ Health. 2021;20(1):108. doi: 10.1186/s12940-021-00774-3

4. Goshin ME, Budarina OV. The influence of the odor of atmospheric emissions from food industry enterprises on the adult population’s subjective well-being and health status. Voprosy Psikhologii. 2022;68(1):135-147. (In Russ.)

5. Schiffman SS, Williams CM. Science of odor as a potential health issue. J Environ Qual. 2005;34(1):129-138.

6. Goshin ME, Ingel FI, Budarina OV. Odours in the atmospheric air: The correlation between the occurrence of stress and diseases of the adult population. In: Sysin Readings – 2021: Proceedings of the II National Congress with international participation on Human Ecology, Environmental Hygiene and Medicine, Moscow, November 17–19, 2021. Moscow: Center for Strategic Planning and Management of Medical and Biological Health Risks; 2021:119-123. (In Russ.)

7. Aatamila M, Verkasalo PK, Korhonen MJ, et al. Odour annoyance and physical symptoms among residents living near waste treatment centres. Environ Res. 2011;111(1):164–170. doi: 10.1016/j.envres.2010.11.008

8. Herr CE, Zur Nieden A, Kopka I, et al. Assessment of somatic complaints in environmental health. Int J Hyg Environ Health. 2009;212(1):27-36. doi: 10.1016/j.ijheh.2008.01.003

9. Radon K, Schulze A, Ehrenstein V, van Strien RT, Praml G, Nowak D. Environmental exposure to confined animal feeding operations and respiratory health of neighboring residents. Epidemiology. 2007;18(3):300-308. doi: 10.1097/01.ede.0000259966.62137.84

10. Dmitrieva NG, Enikolopov SN. Olfactory impairments in mental disorders. Sotsial’naya i Klinicheskaya Psikhiatriya. 2019;29(4):96–99. (In Russ.)

11. Winneke G, Sucker K, Both R. Population odour annoyance is influenced by the hedonic quality of industrial odours. In: Proceedings of the International Conference on Environmental Odour Management, Cologne, November 17–19, 2004. VDI Verlag GmbH; 2004:9-12.

12. Van Harreveld AP. From odorant formation to odour nuisance: New definitions for discussing a complex process. Water Sci Technol. 2001;44(9):9-15.

13. Hirasawa Y, Shirasu M, Okamoto M, Touhara K. Subjective unpleasantness of malodors induces a stress response. Psychoneuroendocrinology. 2019;106:206–215. doi: 10.1016/j.psyneuen.2019.03.018

14. Hoenen M, Wolf OT, Pause BM. The impact of stress on odor perception. Perception. 2017;46(3-4):366-376. doi: 10.1177/0301006616688707

15. Sucker K, Both R, Winneke G. Review of adverse health effects of odours in field studies. Water Sci Technol. 2009;59(7):1281–1289. doi: 10.2166/wst.2009.113

16. Blanes-Vidal V, Suh H, Nadimi ES, et al. Residential exposure to outdoor air pollution from livestock operations and perceived annoyance among citizens. Environ Int. 2012;40:44–50. doi: 10.1016/j.envint.2011.11.010

17. Claeson AS, Lidén E, Nordin M, Nordin S. The role of perceived pollution and health risk perception in annoyance and health symptoms: A population-based study of odorous air pollution. Int Arch Occup Environ Health. 2013;86(3):367-374. doi: 10.1007/s00420-012-0770-8

18. Sazakli E, Leotsinidis M. Odor nuisance and health risk assessment of VOC emissions from a rendering plant. Air Qual Atmos Health. 2021;14(3):301–312. doi: 10.1007/s11869-020-00935-2

19. Axelsson G, Stockfelt L, Andersson E, Gidlof-Gunnarsso A, Sallsten G, Barregard L. Annoyance and worry in petrochemical industrial area – Prevalence, time trends, and risk indicators. Int J Environ Res Public Health. 2013;10(4):1418-1438. doi: 10.3390/ijerph10041418

20. Brancher M, Knauder W, Piringer M, Schauberger G. Temporal variability in odour emissions: To what extent this matters for the assessment of annoyance using dispersion modelling. Atmos Environ X. 2020;5:100054. doi: 10.1016/j.aeaoa.2019.100054

21. Winneke G. The assessment of the impact of environmental odours in the community. In: Proceedings of the International Conference on Environmental Odour Management, Cologne, November 17–19, 2004. VDI Verlag GmbH; 2004:5–7.

22. De Feo G, De Gisi S, Williams ID. Public perception of odour and environmental pollution attributed to MSW treatment and disposal facilities: A case study. Waste Manag. 2013;33(4):974-987. doi: 10.1016/j.wasman.2012.12.016

23. Monazzam MR, Avishan M, Asghari M, Boubehrejh M. Assessment of odor annoying impacts on trade and serving centers close to a vegetable oil manufacturing plant. Curr World Environ. 2012;7(2):191-200. doi: 10.12944/CWE.7.2.01

24. Basaraba IN. [The problem of the foreign odour of the polluted atmosphere of an industrial city]. In: Problems of Monitoring Health of the Population of Industrial Cities: Proceedings of the All-Union Scientific Conference. Angarsk; 1989:12. (In Russ.)