Air and Waste Management Association 92nd Annual Meeting and Exhibition

Copyright © 1999 Ambient air in the community holds a mixture of chemicals from the everyday activities of it’s citizens and the commercial enterprises that make up modern day society. Exposure to chemicals in the ambient air is a part of life and a part of a community. However, from time to time citizens find the odors of these chemicals objectionable and at some point declare them a nuisance. Additionally, citizens frequently report adverse health effects from these chemicals. An odor nuisance can be a result of a series of odor episodes experienced by a citizen. The frequency of these episodes, the duration of each odor episode, the intensity of the odors, and the character of the odors all contribute to the nuisance experience and the resulting citizen complaint. Citizens sometimes experience adverse health effects that are attributed to odors or odorants (chemicals) in the ambient air. Often these health effects are non-specific symptoms (headaches, nausea, reflex nausea, GI distress, fatigue, eye irritation, throat irritation, shortness of breath, runny nose, sleep disturbance, inability to concentrate, classical stress response, etc.) whic