Household Odors Associated With the Use of Chlorine Dioxide

Abstract

In recent years, reports have indicated that the use of chlorine dioxide (ClO2) instead of chlorine as a preoxidant during water treatment is somehow related to the production of offensive odors at customers' homes and businesses. These odors were described by terms such as “kerosenelike,” “cat‐urine‐like,” and “strong chlorinous.” Attempts to isolate and identify the odor‐causing compounds in water samples taken from treatment plants and homes were unsuccessful. Suggestions from others that the offensive odors were in some way related to the presence of new carpeting in homes and businesses provided the basis for additional experiments. The principal conclusions derived from the study are that the strong chlorinous odors are caused by ClO2 itself, whereas the kerosenelike and cat‐urine‐like odors are products of gas‐phase reactions between ClO2 liberated from the water and organic substances in the air inside the customer's residence.