A team of environmental engineers at Penn State University has developed an Odor Index process to evaluate noxious air samples.
So far the index is being used to monitor municipal wastewater treatment processing plants, but it could be used in many other venues including hog farms, says Bradley Striebig, team leader.
Striebig explains the index combines off-the-shelf instruments, including a gas chromatograph, with a database of information from about 20 odorants. The index relates concentration with what a person subjectively rates as odorous.
Striebig can be reached at (814) 863-9911 or bas124@psu.edu.