Chemical composition of burnt smell caused by accidental fires: environmental contaminants.
The chemical composition of the odors typical of fires has recently been deciphered. Basically the constituents are mixtures of acetophenone, benzyl alcohol, hydroxylated derivatives of benzaldehyde, methoxylated and/or alkylated phenols and naphthalene. This finding makes it possible to develop objective, practical analytic measurement methods for the burnt smell as a contribution to improving fire damage assessment and remediation monitoring. With the aid of an artificially produced burnt smell and a panel of testers the odor detection threshold of a test mixture was determined olfactometrically to 2 μg m⁻³. Using a defined burnt-smell atmosphere in a test chamber, analytical methods with active sampling, the adsorbents XAD 7 and TENAX TA, and GC/MS measurement were then optimized and tested with a view to being able to carry out sensitive quantitative measurement of burnt smells. A further practical method with particular application to the qualitative characterization of this odor is based on the use of a new SPME (solid-phase microextraction) field sampler with DVB/CAR/PDMS (divinylbenzene/Carboxen™/polydimethylsiloxane) fibers.
Heitmann
K
K
Technical University of Braunschweig, Institute of Ecological and Sustainable Chemistry, Hagenring 30, 38106 Braunschweig, Germany.
Wichmann
H
H
Bahadir
M
M
Gunschera
J
J
Schulz
N
N
Salthammer
T
T
D000098:Acetophenones / Q000032:analysis / Q000737:chemistry; D000393:Air Pollutants / Q000032:analysis / Q000737:chemistry*; D001547:Benzaldehydes / Q000032:analysis / Q000737:chemistry; D019905:Benzyl Alcohol / Q000032:analysis / Q000737:chemistry; D004784:Environmental Monitoring / Q000379:methods*; D005390:Fires; D008401:Gas Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry; D008956:Models, Chemical; D009281:Naphthalenes / Q000032:analysis / Q000737:chemistry; D009812:Odorants / Q000032:analysis*; D052617:Solid Phase Microextraction
D000098:Acetophenones; D000393:Air Pollutants; D001547:Benzaldehydes; D009281:Naphthalenes; C031721:naphthalene; D019905:Benzyl Alcohol; C038699:acetophenone; C032175:benzaldehyde