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Recent years witnessed a widespread increase in interest in the relationship between industrial odors and community well-being. Odor assessment, in general, could be done by analytical monitoring or odor sensory methods. The analytical monitoring of an individual chemical compound was not always accurate since odors often consisted of a complex mixture of many compounds. Human assessment required training and gave results based on the study time and circumstances. The key of this study was to use the available technology to enable people to report industrial odors in the place and time of occurrence. Ultimately, the goal was to provide information to communities so that they could work with the industries in their neighborhoods to find a solution to improve their air quality and well-being.

The northern part of the Denver metropolitan area had many factories and two major highways. On the other hand, it had a number of residential areas extending along the north of Denver from Chaffee Park in the west to Commerce City in the east. Many complaints from these north Denver residents about strong industrial odors were recorded. People reported that they suffered from burning eyes and throat, headaches, skin irritation, coughing, and breathing difficulties due to strong odors.

In response to these complaints, we first completed a study in the Globeville community in 2012. Our study was funded by an EPA Environmental Justice Grant and was completed in 2012, with a published in 2015. Efforts to identify the odor and its potential sources included a door-to-door survey, meteorological correlations, and air quality sampling for volatile organic compounds (VOCs), sulfur gases, and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs). Our Globeville study concluded that the area had potential industrial sources of odors and reported high levels of naphthalene. The study recommended a more detailed investigation to explain the effects of odors in communities such as Globeville, to assess the relationship between odor exposure and well-being, and to understand the effect of odor mixtures.

The goal of our follow-up study was to investigate the effects of industrial odors on residential communities and to explore whether there was an association with personal well-being. The study area was extended to include the northern Denver metropolitan communities of Globeville, Chaffee Park, Sunny Side, Elyria Swansea, and Commerce City. Four other Colorado communities with similar demographics (income, race, residents per household) were included for comparison purposes: Fort Lupton, Greeley, Fort Collins, and Pueblo. Data were collected using online surveys and a smartphone app (Android only). We also added a Spanish version of the survey. A reporting smartphone application (SPA) report odor 1 was used to report odors in their area, and there was an online version for those who did not want to report with a smartphone. The study enrolled over 300 participants from each community. The participants were recruited voluntarily through social media. After agreeing and signing the consent form, participants were asked to take the online survey four times, once every three months. They were also asked to use the SPA to report odors regularly whenever they noticed them. In addition, the participants received requests randomly to describe the air odor. In this case, if there was no odor, they reported that the air was odorless.

Publications

Eltarkawe, M. and Miller, S., 2019. Industrial odor source identification based on wind direction and social participation,ÌýInternational Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 16:1242, 2019,Ìý

Eltarkawe, M.A., and Miller, S.L. The impact of industrial odors on the subjective well-being of communities in Colorado,ÌýInternational Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 15: 1091, 2018,Ìý