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Household Odors Associated With the Use of Chlorine Dioxide
Author(s) -
Hoehn Robert C.,
Dietrich Andrea M.,
Farmer William S.,
Orr Margaret P.,
Lee Ramon G.,
Aieta E. Marco,
Wood Delmer W.,
Gordon Gilbert
Publication year - 1990
Publication title -
journal ‐ american water works association
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.466
H-Index - 74
eISSN - 1551-8833
pISSN - 0003-150X
DOI - 10.1002/j.1551-8833.1990.tb06948.x
Subject(s) - odor , chlorine dioxide , offensive , chlorine , residence , environmental chemistry , environmental science , chemistry , pulp and paper industry , business , organic chemistry , engineering , economics , operations research , demographic economics
In recent years, reports have indicated that the use of chlorine dioxide (ClO 2 ) instead of chlorine as a preoxidant during water treatment is somehow related to the production of offensive odors at customers' homes and businesses. These odors were described by terms such as “kerosenelike,” “cat‐urine‐like,” and “strong chlorinous.” Attempts to isolate and identify the odor‐causing compounds in water samples taken from treatment plants and homes were unsuccessful. Suggestions from others that the offensive odors were in some way related to the presence of new carpeting in homes and businesses provided the basis for additional experiments. The principal conclusions derived from the study are that the strong chlorinous odors are caused by ClO 2 itself, whereas the kerosenelike and cat‐urine‐like odors are products of gas‐phase reactions between ClO 2 liberated from the water and organic substances in the air inside the customer's residence.