A Review of the Nature of Odour Perception and Human Response

Abstract

Odour perception involves the most fundamental of the senses, yet the nature of odour perception has been a mystery. This has been a problem for building owners, for odour and irritation are prime complaints in many indoor air qual ity (IAQ) trouble situations. Frequently, a strong emotional response is voiced by building occupants, and most troubling of all, complaints often continue after the source is fixed. Fortunately, biology is in a revolution which started a decade ago. The fruits of this revolution are now starting to appear. This paper is a distillation and integration of much of the recent biological research as it bears on IAQ. In it, I will first provide an update on the nature of odour perception relevant to IAQ. Then I will provide an explanation for why there can be such a strong occupant response to what often seems to be trivial levels of contaminants. Finally, I will discuss IAQ implications.