Abstract
Odor annoyance negatively impacts residents of communities adjacent to persistent nuisance industries. These residents, often with a high percentage of minority or otherwise marginalized residents, experience subjective and objective impacts on health and well-being; yet, reliable methods for quantifying and categorizing odors have been elusive. Field olfactometry is integral to the study of odor annoyance experienced by communities as it includes both qualitative (human perception) and quantitative (intensity measurement) dimensions of human odor experience and has been employed by municipalities in the U.S. to evaluate odor pollution levels. Cartographic visualization of odor data recorded using a field olfactometer offers further opportunity to evaluate potential patterns of odor annoyance, yet the use of field olfactometry and geographic information systems have not been frequently employed by geographers. By employing a mixed-methods approach to evaluate odor pollution, this study addresses the environmental justice context by quantifying and categorizing the presence of odor pollution in Waterfront South, a neighborhood in Camden, NJ previously identified for its disproportionate malodor burden. This study offers support to mixed methods research and the need for monitoring subjective and objective impacts in communities with compounding odor nuisance industries.
Highlights
While malodors have always been integral to the sensory experience of urban life [1,2], industrialization, modernization, and land-use zoning in American cities have relegated malodors to localized point and area sources
The study of environmental odor is limited by the complexity of both aromatic compounds and the human sense of smell
Less than one square mile, the Waterfront South neighborhood is straddled between the Camden County Municipal Authority (CCMUA) sewage treatment plant to the west, Interstate 676 to the east, a large U.S Gypsum plant to the north, and the Camden County trash-to-steam incinerator, Covanta Energy Recovery Center, to the south
Summary
While malodors have always been integral to the sensory experience of urban life [1,2], industrialization, modernization, and land-use zoning in American cities have relegated malodors to localized point and area sources. In comparison to other forms of air pollution, exposure to odor resulting from human activity is generally recognized to be a nuisance, rather than a public health risk or environmental hazard. Americans, contributing to the limited research on environmental odors and their effects [3]. Interest in the health consequences of malodors has increased in recent decades, often as a result of residential exposure to odor emitting ‘nuisance industries,’ such as municipal waste and wastewater disposal and treatment facilities, application of sewage sludge, industrial animal agriculture, and the production, storage and transport of industrial chemicals [4]. Persistent malodor exposure is considered an environmental stressor, capable of generating negative impacts for health and well-being due to stress-related symptoms and illnesses, even if the odorous air is not toxic [3]
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