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Human olfactory assessment of scented volatile chemical product emissions.

Number: 3221

Author(s) : CROSS J. N., MAGNUSON B. H., LIMAYE Z. K., MANIPATI R., HUANG C., LIU J., BOOR B. E., JUNG N.

Summary

This study focuses on the development of an inert controlled environmental chamber (ICEC) that will be able to isolate chemical emissions from scented volatile chemical products (sVCPs) by housing them within a completely pollutant-resistant environment. The two overarching goals of the ICEC are to: (1.) study these chemical emissions in conjunction with human participants to evaluate their associated psychological and emotional response and (2.) isolate samples from sVCPs that are uncontaminated by outside air for high-resolution online mass spectrometry analysis. Personal care and household products are potent sources of indoor air pollution as they contain volatile organic compounds (VOCs) that interact and transform within the indoor atmospheric environment. Scented products that individuals bring into their homes, cars, and workplaces are of particular interest in this study as their
value is rooted in creating smellscapes that appeal to the emotional perceptions of the consumer rather than a discernible function that is offered by skin products that moisturize skin or hair care products that add shine to hair. This study utilizes the ICEC with widely available sVCPs to isolate them in a single-zone reactor supplied with filtered zero air at variable relative humidities to ensure that the sVCP emissions are not altered by influences like excess ozone and particulate matter. Emission concentrations are then diluted with zero air with a specialized system of mass flow controllers to deliver variable dilution to a human participant through a stainless-steel sniffing port. The sniffing port delivers diluted sVCP emissions to the participant for their sensory evaluation. The participant’s heart rate (HR) and blood oxygen saturation (SpO2) are monitored using non-invasive measures to evaluate any changes in breathing and HR patterns through each dilution phase. For odor and emotional assessment, this study utilizes the Geneva Odor and Emotional Scale (GEOS). This scale is an effective tool in measuring the subjective experience triggered by commonly experienced odors and scents using a series of Likert scales in six dimensions including disgust, happiness-well-being, sensuality-desire, energy, soothing-peacefulness, and hungerthirst. This tool aids in understanding the motivation to incorporate certain products into one’s smellscapes. Starting at the highest dilution setting, the participant will inhale at the top of the sniffing port and respond to a series of questions on the GEOS regarding their perception of the odor they are asked to perceive. This will occur in 7 stages as the emission concentration increases and dilution decreases, using an online mass spectrometer to concurrently track the VOC concentrations.
Here we present our preliminary results to demonstrate the effectiveness and operational parameters of the ICEC in
tandem with implementation of the designed and approved human subject protocol through results obtained via
participation of twelve human subjects. This study is expected to find a relationship between the increased
concentration of VOCs introduced from the sVCPs and stress-response factors reflected in the olfactory assessment
and biometric data. The incorporation of the ICEC with human participants, odor and emotional assessment, and
biometric data will contribute a well-rounded perspective to the literature expanding on relationships between
sVCPs in the indoor environment and human olfaction perception with emotional and physiological responses.

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  • Original title: Human olfactory assessment of scented volatile chemical product emissions.
  • Record ID : 30032952
  • Languages: English
  • Source: 2024 Purdue Conferences. 8th International High Performance Buildings Conference at Purdue.
  • Publication date: 2024/07/15

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