Abstract
The present study provides an elaborate assessment of the performance of olfactometers in terms of odorant recovery for a selection of odorants emitted from livestock houses. The study includes three different olfactometer dilution systems, which have been in use at accredited odor laboratories. They consist of: (i) a custom-built olfactometer made of glass tubes, (ii) a TO8 olfactometer, and (iii) an Olfacton dilution system based on a mass flow controller. The odorants include hydrogen sulfide, methanethiol, dimethyl sulfide, acetic acid, butanoic acid, propanoic acid, 3-methylbutanoic acid, 4-methylphenol, and trimethylamine. Furthermore, n-butanol, as the reference gas in the European standard for olfactometry, EN13725, was included. All measurements were performed in real time with proton-transfer-reaction mass spectrometry (PTR-MS). The results show that only dimethyl sulfide was almost completely recovered in all cases, while for the remaining compounds, the performance was found to vary significantly (from 0 to 100%) depending on the chemical properties of the compounds, the concentration levels, the pulse duration, and the olfactometer material. To elucidate the latter, the recovery in different locations of the TO8 olfactometer and in tubes of different materials, that is, poly-tetrafluoroethylene (PTFE), perfluoroalkoxy (PFA), stainless steel and SilcoTek-coated steel, were tested. Significant saturation effects were observed when odorants were in contact with stainless steel.
Highlights
To measure odor at animal production facilities, it is common practice to collect air samples at the source, store them in sample bags for up to 30 h, and subsequently dilute them in an olfactometer to assess them with human panelists
This sample procedure is typically performed according to a standard such as the European standard for dynamic olfactometry, EN13725 [1]
European standard for dynamic olfactometry [1] defines the permissible materials for the construction of sampling equipment to minimize the sample contamination and/or alteration
Summary
To measure odor at animal production facilities, it is common practice to collect air samples at the source, store them in sample bags for up to 30 h, and subsequently dilute them in an olfactometer to assess them with human panelists. This sample procedure is typically performed according to a standard such as the European standard for dynamic olfactometry, EN13725 [1]. The. European standard for dynamic olfactometry [1] defines the permissible materials for the construction of sampling equipment to minimize the sample contamination and/or alteration. The materials in an olfactometer, which are directly exposed to the sample, should be made of one of poly-tetrafluoroethylene (PTFE)/Teflon, FEP, PET, glass or stainless steel.
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