ATMOSPHERIC ENVIRONMENT, vol.40, no.22, pp.4210-4219, 2006 (SCI-Expanded)
The relationship between odor concentrations (olfactometry) and chemical concentrations (gas chromatography-mass spectrometry, GC-MS) was studied for the odorous air compositions of a rendering plant, a sanitary landfill and an industrial area with large petroleum and petrochemical industries. Samples taken from the university campus located in a non-industrial and non-urban area were also studied for several organic components for comparison. Ambient air samples were taken into special bags by using an odor sampling device designed for field sampling of odors. In the laboratory odorous chemicals in the samples were transferred into adsorbent tubes and analyzed using a combination of thermal desorption and GGMS. Results point to different characteristics of the odorous gases and air in and around the urban and industrial sources.