The second meeting of the Working Group (WG) 41 that is dealing with the first European Norm that will regulate the so-called “e-noses” took place in Nimes, France, the 11th of February 2016. In this meeting the title of the norm was further discussed. The question raised was: sensors for monitoring odorants or odours?
Odorant? why not odour monitoring? A clear terminological distinction should be made between odorants (stimulus) and odour (sensation). In the same way that the olfactory system transduces chemical signals into perception (odours), the sensors "transduce" odorant signals into electric signals.
A waste facility in the United Kingdom processes food waste via anaerobic digestion. The site is in a mainly rural location with a number of isolated properties at least 500 m from the site boundary, so odour control is mandatory to protect harmful conditions to the environment and avoid odour nuisances.
Currently, it is usual in the operating licenses, that governmental institutions grant to the sites where the sewage and waste are treated, the measures are put in place to control the emissions into the atmosphere.