Search Odors

Purpose

Odors in the environment can come from many sources, including human activities, animals, nature, vehicles, and industrial activities. Access this database to look up common odors by their smell characteristics.

Boy holding his nose

Overview

Here we provide answers to common questions on odors and health. You can also find information on:

  • approaches for addressing odors in your community
  • information on reporting odors
  • methods for conducting odor complaint investigations
  • ways for community members and other groups to be involved in odor management decisions

Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (ATSDR) compiled a list of chemicals that food and beverage industries use in production. Many have pleasant smells, but not all. We then added other chemicals that trained professionals or large numbers of people agree have a distinctive odor. For example, we added chemicals typically emitted from hot mix asphalt (HMA) plants. This is because many of those chemicals have an offensive odor, and many residents have had similar complaints about them.

Not all of the chemicals/odors in this database are toxic, but many could be a nuisance or affect quality of life. We will continue to add chemicals to the list.

If you want to send a suggestion, you can email us at environmentalodors@cdc.gov.

Database

Click on “What is that odor” and access the database to look up common odors by smell characteristics (e.g., apple, mint). Odors can also be searched by their chemical ingredients (e.g., 2 methyl butyl acetate, methyl salicylate).

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Content Source:
Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry