Physicochemical characteristics and supraliminal odor intensity: Reply to Mitchell

Cain, William S.

doi:10.3758/bf03208957

Cited by 9 publications

(4 citation statements)

References 14 publications

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“…Equation (4) may serve as a framework to develop more complex and comprehensive predictive ODT models taking into account diverse structural features of odorants. Consistent with previous studies [ 32 – 34 ], results reported here also suggest that power-law exponents are related to molecular structure, particularly for small molecules. The development of predictive equations for ODT and PLE will provide a comprehensive framework to characterize the relationships of odor strength according to molecular structure.…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 92%

“…Previous studies have attempted to predict power-law exponents based on physicochemical parameters such as molecular heat capacity [ 32 ], parachor [ 33 ], molar volume at boiling point, ability to accept hydrogen bonding, or electronic polarizability [ 34 ]. Wright [ 31 ] has suggested that relatively high PLE values are associated with relatively inflexible molecular structures, which is true for compounds such as cyclohexanol (0.65), cyclopentanone (0.61) or toluene (0.51).…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Effect of Functional Group and Carbon Chain Length on the Odor Detection Threshold of Aliphatic Compounds

Zarzo

2012

Sensors

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Odor detection thresholds (ODTs) are used for assessing outdoor and indoor air quality. They are obtained experimentally by olfactometry and psychophysical methods, and large compilations are available in the literature. A non-linear regression equation was fitted to describe the ODT variability of 114 aliphatic compounds based on the alkyl chain length for different homologous series (carboxylic acids, aldehydes, 2-ketones, esters, 1-alcohols, amines, thiols, thioethers and hydrocarbons). The resulting equation reveals an effect of the functional group, molecular size and also an interaction between both factors. Although the mechanistic interpretation of results is uncertain, the relatively high goodness-of-fit (R2 = 0.90) suggests that ODT values of aliphatic compounds can be predicted rather accurately, which is not the case for rigid molecules. This equation may serve as a basis for the development of more complex ODT models taking into account diverse structural features of odorants. The variability of power-law exponents was also investigated for the homologous series.

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 92%

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Effect of Functional Group and Carbon Chain Length on the Odor Detection Threshold of Aliphatic Compounds

Zarzo

2012

Sensors

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“…From the point of view of basic research, it is desirable to make the relative values obtained in olfactory research comparable from one laboratory to another by including a standard odorant in all scaling experiments. A similar view was expressed by Cain (1971) who also advocated validation of the exponent in the equal sensation function by the use of the same experimental setting with the same standard odor and with other odors being scaled individually and matched by pairs.…”

Section: Need Jor a Standard Odormentioning

confidence: 76%

Equal unpleasantness matching of malodorous substances in the community.

Lindvall¹,

Stevensson²

1974

Journal of Applied Psychology

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Five different odorants, produced through combustion procedures of animal manure, were matched with hydrogen sulflde with regard to unpleasantness by 30 subjects. Power functions described the unpleasantness matchings for five combustion toilets tested. The exponents of the equal sensation functions indicated a relative invariance of the various combustion procedures on the exponent. Different combustion procedures resulted in different levels of odor unpleasantness, but these differences were small from a practical point of view. The experiment demonstrated the practical applicability of psychophysical methods in environmental health research.Pollution of the atmosphere is a major concern of all nations. In particular, the general environmental problem of unpleasant odors is of increasing concern. It appears that information regarding the perceived intensity and unpleasantness of odor-producing stimuli may assist environmental planners in their efforts to reduce offensive pollutants.Certain psychophysical methods should have application to this problem. Thus, crossmodality matching of the subjective intensity of stimuli has been carried out for several pairs of sense modalities. For example, force of handgrip has been used as a matching continuum for equating the perceived intensity of different sensory continua, such as white noise, white light, warmth, and cold (Stevens, Mack, & Stevens, 1960;Stevens & Stevens, 1960). In connection with olfaction studies, finger span has been used as the matching continuum by Lindvall (1971), andEkman, Berglund, Berglund, and Lindvall (1967). Thus, the usefulness of cross-modality matching in developing "objective" yardsticks of subjective 1 The investigation was supported by grants from the Swedish Environmental Protection Board and the Folksam Research Board.2 The authors wish to thank P. O. Olsson, S. Pettersson, and G. Rosen for their assistance with the experiment, and Trygg Engen for his valuable comments on the manuscript.

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“…Stone (1964) and Dravneiks (1972) showed that while the human olfactory sense detects bad odours, it cannot estimate concentrations accurately, and certainly cannot detect minor variations in concentration. Cain (1971), Patte andLaffort (1975), andHyman (1977) showed that the strength of the bad odour increases as a power function of the concentration of the odour molecules in the air, where the power is less than 1. Thus, odour strength can be expressed as the following: RDc s n in which R is the odour strength, s is the concentration of the molecules in the parcel of air, c is a constant related to the offset of the logarithmic graph, and n is an empirical value ranging from 0Ð2 to 0Ð7.…”

Section: Recognition Of Bad Odoursmentioning

confidence: 99%

Municipal hotlines and automated weather stations as a tool for monitoring bad odour dispersion: The northern Negev case

Blumberg

Sasson

2001

Journal of Environmental Management

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Physicochemical characteristics and supraliminal odor intensity: Reply to Mitchell

Cited by 9 publications

References 14 publications

Effect of Functional Group and Carbon Chain Length on the Odor Detection Threshold of Aliphatic Compounds

Effect of Functional Group and Carbon Chain Length on the Odor Detection Threshold of Aliphatic Compounds

Equal unpleasantness matching of malodorous substances in the community.

Municipal hotlines and automated weather stations as a tool for monitoring bad odour dispersion: The northern Negev case

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