We were given the sense of smell so that we could be able to perceive scents. We can therefore enjoy pleasant scents and be aware whenever something has a bad scent. With the use of smell we can know when something harmful is in the air. We will move away from the area to safety. This will lead us to call in experts who will determine if the smell was either toxic or noxious. Toxic smells can be harmful and can even cause death when inhaled for long periods. The good thing about the ability to smell is that we can be aware whenever we sense harmful chemicals.
This article seeks to explain about smells that are not pleasant to our senses and not the harmful ones.
Odorants
Any chemical that will trigger our sense of smell like plastic are called odorants. With low concentrations they do not cause any harm. They usually tend to be unpleasant to our noses though. Plastic smells is one kind of these odorants.
How can you rid the smell?
Conceal it: You can use a stronger scent to cover up the bad smell. This does not work all the time, when the smells are mixed up they just form another bad smell.
- Get fresh air in: if you introduce fresh air into a room it tends to dilute any bad odor. You can do this by opening windows or using a fan to circulate the air.You can measure toxicity by parts per million (PPM), even air can get toxic. This is an effective way of diluting it.
- Try absorbing it: you can find some products in the home that can absorb smells and odors. Baking soda and coffee are items you would normally find in the home and work best in absorbing smells. In fact some warehouse operators use full coffee beans to absorb smells.
- You can also use talc and cornstarch; most fine powders absorb smells and odors.
- If you can find it remove it: Smells originate from something. You should first of all find out where it is coming from, and then get rid of it. Within no time the smell will be gone.
- Be patient: sometimes time is the solution. Giving it time will allow the smell to be used up and replaced by fresh air.
You can also hurry things along by heating to dilute the air. If you opt to do this, you should be careful not to produce too much heat, because this will release more gas.
In The Home
If these unpleasant smells are in the home, there are a number simple ways you can use to get rid of them. This is especially important when you have children and pets and you need to be extra cautious. You can simmer orange peels on a stove and this will take care of the problem. Or you can put vanilla pods in an oven proof dish with the lowest setting in the oven.