Types of Odours

There are thousands of different odours and they are generated in many different ways. We can classify unpleasant odours into a few categories, however, and this classification will help us to deal with odours more efficiently.

Water Damage
If the source was “white water”, the odour in a flooded area often comes from items that have been soaked. A simple example is cardboard, which has a characteristic odour when soaked. Another example would be the odour in a water soaked building; this odour becomes musty because mold starts to grow. This musty odour is an important indicator that an active mold colony is present. If the water was contaminated, the odour will come from impurities in that water. Black water is, of course, sewage and has a characteristic foul odour.

Smoke and Fire Damage
The odour generated in a fire depends on what burned and what started the fire. There are many combinations but here are several leading types of smoke odour:

Animal Odours
When an animal gets into a building, it can generate several odours. There can be the characteristic odour of urine or feces or even of body oils from the animal. These odours tend to change in intensity depending on room temperature and humidity. The higher the temperature and the higher the relative humidity, the stronger the odour. Perhaps the most well known, and objectionable, animal odour is skunk spray. Skunk spray is particularly troublesome because it has several components. Some of these components generate a strong odour and others turn into bad smelling compounds after they have been exposed to humidity for a period of time.

Decayed Tissue
This odour source is similar to that of the protein fire. When microbes attack dead flesh, they begin the process of degrading the tissue into simpler compounds – essentially a recycling mechanism. These simpler compounds tend to become air borne very easily and they have a very foul, putrid odour.

Inorganic / Chemical
In any disaster, of course, any chemical container is likely to be damaged and can leak its contents. Given the number of containers in any building, it is impossible to anticipate every possible combination. There are several combinations found in residences that are particularly hazardous.· In the laundry room: chlorine bleach when mixed with ammonia {glass cleaner or household ammonia} or an acid {vinegar, rust removers or scale remover} will generate very toxic gases.