A major study investigating air pollution in the New South Wales Lower Hunter has found chemical giant Orica is contributing to ammonium nitrate levels.

The Environment Protection Authority (EPA) carried out the particle characterisation study and dust deposition study in 2014 and 2015.

Particles were sampled at four sites — Newcastle, Beresfield, Mayfield, and Stockton.

The studies found levels were good overall by world standards, but did spike at times as a result of seasonal weather patterns and industrial activities on nearby Kooragang Island.

The study found sea salt was the largest contributor of fine and coarse inhalable particles.

EPA chief executive Barry Buffier said the higher levels at Stockton were mainly due to sea salt and ammonium nitrate.

"I don't think we had a good understanding of that ammonium nitrate issue in Stockton before we did this study," he said.

"So we've put some pollution reduction programs in at Orica in relation to their operations there.

"We'll have a better idea soon as to how effective that's been."

The study found annual average PM 2.5 concentrations were very similar at Newcastle, Mayfield and Beresfield.

Orica to work on pollution reduction program

More data has been collected from Stockton since the particle characterisation study finished, and Orica is funding further analysis.

Kooragang Island site manager Scott Reid said the company was committed to addressing the matter.

"We'll immediately propose a pollution reduction program with the EPA," he said.

"We'll also fund further analysis of particles from the Stockton station, and we'll continue investigations into technologies that will further reduce ammonium emissions from our site."

Mr Reid said changes had been made to the site, including shutting down a section of the plant.

"We've also modified aspects of the prill tower's operations, that will hopefully minimise a generation of particulates during the cooling process," he said.

"We've reduced the airflow through that prill tower.

"We have replaced some equipment and upgraded some equipment in the plant, and we've also done some tweaking of our chemical processes."

Newcastle industry
Photo: The Environment Protection Authority took particles samples at four sites — Newcastle, Beresfield, Mayfield, and Stockton. (Supplied: J Spencer, NSW Office of Environment and Heritage)
10 per cent of dust particles come from coal

The findings of the dust deposition study found coal made up just 10 per cent of the larger dust particles that were visible to the human eye.

Sample sites were selected on where air pollution complaints had been received.

EPA Hunter manager Adam Gilligan said nearly 70 per cent of the large particles came from soil and rock.

"People often expect that material that appears black on their window sills and the like must be coming from the coal industry," he said.

"To see that coal is actually averaging 10 per cent of that large dust that's deposited is no doubt going to be a surprise to some."

The NSW Minerals Council said the research shows coal dust is a relatively minor source of pollution, contradicting what it describes as 'alarmist rhetoric' on the region's air quality.

But Keith Craig from the Stockton Residents Group said coal dust levels are not insignificant.

"I think that's typical of the Minerals Council, but if you talk to the coal industry themselves they realise you've got to have continuous improvement and do things better," he said.

"I mean, every winter people start complaining about black stuff in their pools and on their houses when you've got those westerly winds, so it's still definitely an issue for the community."

The EPA's dust deposition study
Photo: The findings of the EPA's dust deposition study found coal makes up just 10 per cent of the larger dust particles. (ABC News: Nic MacBean)
Greens continue calls for national air pollution act

Greens candidate for the federal seat of Newcastle John Mackenzie described the studies as a "smoking gun".

"It has revealed the extraordinary contribution to particulate pollution from the Orica operations on Kooragang, and the black carbon particles attributable to the city's coal haulage industry, including the coal terminals," he said.

"This study reinforces the Greens' call for a national Air Pollution Control Act and a Commonwealth regulator, so that this kind of work can be extended to other pollution hotspots around the country."

Dr Mackenzie said he would be campaigning for a nationally-consistent approach to air pollution during the upcoming election.

"The innovative work on particle pollution characterisation is a landmark achievement, and demonstrates the kind of outcomes that are possible when industry, community, and government work together to find solutions to the complex issue of air pollution," he said.

"The Greens will continue to argue for strict and enforceable limits in industry operating licences, where the polluters themselves are financially responsible for the health and environmental costs of their pollution.

"Enforceable limits provide real incentives for ongoing improvements and the adoption of cleaner technologies, and works to bring air pollution back within safe levels of exposure, to the benefit of the entire community."

Newcastle Greens candidate, Dr John Mackenzie
Photo: Greens candidate John Mackenzie described the studies as a "smoking gun". (ABC News: Liz Farquhar)
Opposition and residents call for action

The NSW Opposition's environment spokeswoman Penny Sharpe is calling on the Liberal Government to come up with a management plan to address air quality issues.

Ms Sharpe said she was not surprised by the recent findings.

"It shows that there are increased fine particle matters in the air and around the Hunter," she said.

"Really, there needs to be a plan of action from the EPA, local industry and the community on how you're going to reduce that.

"I'd like to see the EPA sit down with the community, which I know they've been doing, and I'd like them to sit down with Orica and really work through what emissions reductions are happening."

Stockton residents have also urged chemical giant Orica to install better pollution measures.

Keith Craig from the Stockton Residents Action Group said while the chemical giant is already taking action, he would like to see more done to cut fine particle pollution from the plant.

"I think the big one, and some of the most dangerous fine particles, was the 40 per cent contribution from Orica during the winter months, when the winds come from Orica," he said.

"So it really needs action and really the only way to do it is to collect those emissions, and put them through a scrubber to reduce the fine particles.

"That's what the new prill towers are designed to do, they have low emissions."

In 2014, Newcastle residents gathered to hear the results of a community-run survey called 'Dust Free Streets Project'.

Odour receptors found in human lung tissue

London: It was always thought that the sole bodily function of olfactory receptors was to smell and they could only be found inside the nose. But a new study has found two olfactory receptors in human lung tissue. And when the researchers from Ruhr-University Bochum in Germany activated these receptors, they found that they regulated the way in which the airways smooth muscle cells contracted. Contraction of smooth muscle changes the size of our airways, suggesting that this research, published in the journal Frontiers in Physiology, may open new avenues for treating chronic breathing disorders — such as asthma, emphysema and bronchitis — that constrict and obstruct the airways. Working with human smooth muscle cells, Benjamin Kalbe and his colleagues applied a large number of odour molecules and watched two of them activate the muscle cells. The researchers also determined how activating the receptors with the odour molecules affected the isolated smooth muscle cells. In their experiment, the researchers explored the impact of activating the receptors with a compound called amyl butyrate. The study showed that the compound had different effects on the receptors. “At the beginning of the experiment we did not expect that the olfactory receptors would have completely different effects,” Kalbe said. These results suggested that activating the receptor OR1D2 would constrict the bronchi, whereas stimulating the other receptor, OR2AG1, might help prevent airways from closing in response to pathological triggers. To further explore the therapeutic potential of these receptors, Kalbe said his team are planning to obtain tissue from people with chronic airway diseases to compare them to healthy tissue, to observe if the receptors change in abundance or function in disease states.

Pahang DOE: Water supply at Sungai Semantan plant free from odour contamination

KUANTAN, Oct 11 ― The water at the Semantan raw water plant in Temerloh, which is transferred to the Langat and Cheras water treatment plants (LRA) in Selangor, is free from any odour contamination from Saturday until today. Pahang Department of Environment (DOE) director Rosli Zul said the reading was zero based on the measurement of the rate of odour pollution called Threshold Odour Number (TON) to indicate that the quality of water on the time and days in question was normal until today. “DOE obtained the date from the operator at the Semantan water plant. According to the standard operating procedure, the operator must monitor the odour quality and measure the odour pollution every hour. “The Pahang DOE will act if the data they recorded odour pollution, but until today, the water at the Semantan plant is normal, the TON reading is zero,” he said when contacted by Bernama today. However, he did not denied a little odour pollution was recorded on Friday (October 7) at the plant at 9.45pm and it was detected much earlier at 7pm, at the Langat and Cheras LRA. “The process of transferring raw water from the Semantan plant to the two water treatment plants will take 12 hours and based on the monitoring record from 8am to 8pm on October 7, no pollution took place and it was only detected at 9.45pm,” he said. Rosli said after 11pm on the same day, the TON reading of raw water at the Semantan plant had returned to normal and did not indicate any odour pollution. He said the odour pollution was detected again at the Semantan plant at a level of four TON at dawn (5am) on October 8 (Saturday) and the situation returned to normal after 9am. ― Bernama




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Pahang DOE: Water supply at Sungai Semantan plant free from odour contamination

KUANTAN, Oct 11 ― The water at the Semantan raw water plant in Temerloh, which is transferred to the Langat and Cheras water treatment plants (LRA) in Selangor, is free from any odour contamination from Saturday until today. Pahang Department of Environment (DOE) director Rosli Zul said the reading was zero based on the measurement of the rate of odour pollution called Threshold Odour Number (TON) to indicate that the quality of water on the time and days in question was normal until today. “DOE obtained the date from the operator at the Semantan water plant. According to the standard operating procedure, the operator must monitor the odour quality and measure the odour pollution every hour. “The Pahang DOE will act if the data they recorded odour pollution, but until today, the water at the Semantan plant is normal, the TON reading is zero,” he said when contacted by Bernama today. However, he did not denied a little odour pollution was recorded on Friday (October 7) at the plant at 9.45pm and it was detected much earlier at 7pm, at the Langat and Cheras LRA. “The process of transferring raw water from the Semantan plant to the two water treatment plants will take 12 hours and based on the monitoring record from 8am to 8pm on October 7, no pollution took place and it was only detected at 9.45pm,” he said. Rosli said after 11pm on the same day, the TON reading of raw water at the Semantan plant had returned to normal and did not indicate any odour pollution. He said the odour pollution was detected again at the Semantan plant at a level of four TON at dawn (5am) on October 8 (Saturday) and the situation returned to normal after 9am. ― Bernama




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Natural Wonders Monday for you

Australia gears up for rare weather event

IT’S been described as the most spectacular thing you can see in the sky, other than a full eclipse. And it’s happening right here in Australia.

‘It’s fundamentally weird and alien’

IT lives on the forest floor but “the blob” could be the key to changing all of our everyday lives.

Morons topple iconic rock pedestal

AT first it was said to be an act of nature. But footage has revealed a group of young people deliberately destroyed a beloved rock formation.

Fisherman’s find is just pearl-fect

THE world’s biggest pearl, weighing 34kg and worth more than $100 million, has been unveiled in The Philippines. You won’t believe where it’s been kept the past 10 years.

Natural Wonders

‘Earth will be one giant continent’

A WORLD without borders is a very distinct possibility when one supercontinent forms from all of Earth’s major land masses, predict scientists.

Coral ‘orgies’ could save our reef

THERE is still plenty to learn about the mass spawning events of coral, and such secrets could help save the world’s dying reefs.

Ellen is not backing down on reef comments

IT got her Twitter bombed by Environment Minister Greg Hunt, but Ellen DeGeneres says she’s glad her call to save the Great Barrier Reef is being talked about.

The truth Australia doesn’t want to hear

SAVING the Great Barrier Reef should be about more than embracing a photo opp. We need to make the one hard decision that could actually save it.

First snow dump this season

IT MAY have surprised some, but the year’s first snowfall fell early this morning in Thredbo providing exciting scenes for skiers.

Barrier Reef ‘dead in 20 years’

IT’LL be harder to find Nemo in years to come with experts saying damage to the Great Barrier Reef is more dire than previously thought.

Scientists discover hidden Antarctic lake

A LARGE lake may be hiding beneath the ice that covers Antarctica and it may contain countless life forms that frozen continent for millions of years.

Secret coral reef discovered in Amazon river

THE world’s second longest river is home to hidden treasures, a scientific research team has discovered.

Natural Wonders

This is how desperate scientists are

SOME Aussies are so desperate to be heard they’ve spent $14,000 to get their message across this week.

Radical idea to save Aussie icon

MORE than $40 million has been pumped into a hi-tech research facility in Australia powered by nuclear technology, but has it come too late?

Massive dust storm engulfs Barossa

FIVE cars were involved in a crash after strong winds whipped up a huge dust storm from the recent Pinery bushfires in South Australia.

remediation odour

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Odour bylaw wafts its way through approval process

City council is moving forward with bylaw amendments that, if approved, will crackdown on nuisance odours.

Council, at last week’s meeting, gave first and second reading to regulations that seek to ban commercial and industrial business owners from discharging or emitting offensive odours, as determined by the city bylaw officer.

The move was prompted by a homeowner’s complaint in April concerning the deep fryer exhaust odours emanating from a restaurant on the Island Highway. City Clerk Peter Wipper said in a report to council last month that fumes from the restaurant are vented through a flue at the back of the building which is at a similar height to the complainant’s outdoor patio roughly 30 feet away.

Coun. Larry Samson said at last week’s council meeting that he could sympathize with what the homeowners were going through.

“I do support the motion. It is our basic right to enjoy our home and home includes the yards and everything else,” said Samson, adding that the city needs to be proactive in heading off conflict before it happens, particularly in light of the city’s push to bring residential into the downtown core. “As we develop downtown and we’re trying to bring in commercial as well as residential, I think it’s important we have clear guidelines on the commercial component which is the restaurants; that they do have the onus on them to control the odour.”

Under the bylaw amendments council is considering, nuisance odour deemed unlawful would include any odour in the air that is “harmful, poisonous, disgusting, repulsive, very unpleasant, offensive or interferes with the use or enjoyment of property, endangers personal health or safety, or is offensive to the senses and causes inconvenience or annoyance to a person with a normal sense of smell.”

The bylaw would not apply to permitted combustion such as wood stoves and vehicle emissions. Wipper said that in the event a business was found to be out of compliance with the bylaw, the owner would be required to hire an independent odour specialist to recommend mitigation measures.

Mayor Andy Adams questioned, however, whether it was necessary to go so far as to require a business owner to hire a professional engineer licensed in odour control, as is laid out in the bylaw. Adams said engineers certified in HVACs, and other infiltration systems are “more than adequate to provide services and meet the majority of conditions we’re likely to be presented with.”

But Coun. Marlene Wright said she didn’t feel comfortable altering the original wording in the bylaw.

“I feel we’re playing with words here and that can be very dangerous,” Wright said. “This is a very serious matter and I know other municipalities have had problems with this kind of issue so I think we need to do our due diligence and be as careful as we can when we set a bylaw.”

Coun. Ron Kerr added that he “would hate” for the city to be challenged if the designation was loosened, and he urged council to get moving on the bylaw.

“It’s pleasant to debate this issue in chambers but it’s not pleasant to be held hostage in your own home by odour like these residents are, so let’s move ahead with this bylaw,” Kerr said.

In the end, council approved first and second reading of the bylaw, with Adams opposed. If the bylaw – which does not require a public hearing to pass – is approved, city staff will identify areas in the city where the potential for conflict with respect to nuisance odour exists and zone them appropriately.

• by  Kristen Douglas - Campbell River Mirror
• Campbell River posted Sep 15, 2016 at 4:00 PM

Can you call it harassment when you have to put up with someone’s particularly bad breath or body odour?

Can you call it harassment when you have to put up with someone’s particularly bad breath or body odour?

Trust the Japanese to not only make “smell harassment” part of their lexicon, but also to conduct seminars for companies seeking to reduce olfactory assaults in the workplace without hurting the feelings of staff concerned.

Mandom, Japan’s biggest manufacturer of men’s personal-care products, was in the news this week for holding seminars on “smell care” or “odour etiquette” – polite classes on how not to asphyxiate your colleagues. The aim is to help people become more aware of the scents they produce and encourage them to improve personal hygiene, thereby reducing the distress they cause to others.

Companies have already started sending their staff to these seminars, and some are taking it a step further with guidelines for employees to brush their teeth after meals, lay off pungent food during office hours, and generally avoid inflicting unpleasant smells on their colleagues.

Women, in particular, are becoming increasingly “sensitive to the smells of men”, a Mandom spokesman was quoted as stating.

Why is it that body odour seems to be a bigger problem among men than women?

While all this may seem bizarre or comical to many, it resonates in Japan with its much maligned demographic of middle-aged or older “salarymen” who are often portrayed as a bunch of smelly, chain-smoking, beer-guzzling sad sacks.

Bear in mind, also, that the concept of “smell harassment” fits right into a cubicle culture of office complaints that include “alcohol harassment” (hapless junior staff being forced to binge-drink by their seniors or bosses) and “karaoke harassment” (forced to sing or listen to others yodelling at office gatherings, often in combination with alcohol harassment).

The more politically correct and commiserating types among us may have reservations about using the term “harassment”, but a long-suffering friend has no qualms about telling it like it is when it comes to her workplace.

She says her boss is a believer in close-contact communication, which would be fine if he wasn’t afflicted by a particularly horrendous case of halitosis.

Every conversation with him apparently leaves her green around the gills as she tries anything from holding her breath to thinking of England to counter the onslaught without hurting his feelings. He also has a habit of “spraying it, not saying it”, which leaves her fantasising about shower caps, in addition to gas masks, when he’s talking to her.

I guess there are elements to this story that ring true for many of us. And it’s not just in the workplace.

I was on a long-distance flight once when every hair in my nostrils was under attack, courtesy of the passenger sitting next to me. His breath was so powerful that you didn’t even have to be downwind to experience its potency, the laws of physics be damned. Instead of kicking up a stink, I ended up asking the flight attendant for a medical mask and pretending I was the sick man.

It’s easy to be insensitive and even cruel about it, which is why there’s no shortage of wisecracks like, “Is it rude to throw a breath mint into someone’s mouth while they’re talking?” or “We should have a way of telling people their breath stinks without hurting their feelings, like, ‘I’m bored, let’s go brush your teeth’!”

But the bottom line is whether it’s a case of genuine halitosis, digestive dysfunction, a garlic-heavy meal, or coffee and cigarettes on a stressful day at work, being unaware of how you smell can be very problematic.

I’d say the rule of thumb is, if you can smell yourself, chances are others have been able to for a while.

Yonden Lhatoo is a senior editor at the Post


Yonden Lhatoo is intrigued by the latest trend in Japan to tackle a universal problem in the workplace that most of us are too polite to raise a stink over

This article appeared in the South China Morning Post print edition as:

Body odour and bad breath: when it becomes harassment

Experiment to identify criminals by their body odour shows promising results

Identifying a criminal in an identity parade by his body odour may be an effective method of identifying culprits, scientists have said. In the first test of its kind, tests have shown that people can often accurately recognise the perpetrator of a crime by smelling them – with a potential for error similar to that of eyewitness or vocal identifications. In criminal processes, witnesses can often play a crucial role and their identification of criminals can be received as evidence in courts of justice. But while identification of body odour by dogs have also been accepted, human olfaction has always been considered too limited to be an accurate method. In a new research, published in the journal Frontiers in Psychology, scientists contradict this view, suggesting that everyone has a 'unique odour print' that can be recognised by their peers, and that this method may by as valid as any other types of human identification. ID parade and body odour To test the efficacy of identifying perpetrators by their body odour, the researchers carried two sets of experiments. In the first, 73 participants were presented an authentic video clip of a violent crime along with a body odour, which was said to belong to the criminal. The body odours had been collected on nursing pads sewn to different male volunteers' T-shirts over four hours. Then, in an ID-parade test composed of three, five or eight body odour samples, they asked the participants to identify the one belonging to the perpetrator. In the three cases, the probability of choosing the correct culprit was higher than chance levels, suggesting the method may be reliable to use in forensic settings. However, the scientists observed that the number of correct answers decreased as the ID-parade size increased. In those composed of eight body-odour samples, the probability of identifying the criminal was lower. The second experiment confirmed this and also indicated that the method was less reliable when there was a longer interval between first smelling the criminal's body odour and then identifying them in an ID parade. The scientists point out that these limits are similar to the ones observed in eyewitness or vocal witness identification. Though more research is needed in the identification of criminals through their body odour, it could be an interesting tool to complement existing identification methods. "Identification of body odour in a forensic setting is possible and has characteristics in line with witness identification through other modalities, altogether meriting further investigation in this new field. Olfactory memory may turn out to be an interesting forensic tool, either in the identification of culprits or in the recollection of event details", the authors conclude.

Insense and odour-ability

This 33-year-old perfumer talks about fragrances, travel, sports and more Kiran’s immaculate olfactory senses were a part of his inheritance. Hailing from a family of perfumers, Kiran V. Ranga successfully balances his personal life as a father to a three-year-old and professional life as the founder and managing director of Ripple Fragrances Pvt Ltd, an initiative of Mysore-based NR Group, famous for its Cycle Pure agarbathies. “My father and uncle are creative perfumers and as a kid when I visited the fragrance lab, I was fascinated about the world of odours,” says Kiran,a perfumer with a bachelors degree in business and perfumery at the University of Plymouth, UK. The Mysore-based perfumer has a cultivated taste in fragrances that he likes to wear at different occasions. “My favourite fragrances are L’ homme Libre by YSL and Bvlgari Man for evenings. I love to wear Hugo Boss Sport during the daytime,” he adds and goes on to tell us about the raging trends in the perfume industry, “The trends for 2017 include fruit and cocktail inspired fragrances for summer which conjure exotic island getaways like Tahiti and Bora Bora, warm and spicy fragrances for winter including ginger bread and Vanilla mocha. Marine, fresh and oceanic notes are always in vogue with connotations of corals, seashells and ocean breeze.” Exercising is his idea of unwinding after a hectic day at work. He says, “I like to do some exercises that relax and rejuvenate my mind and body, or I even like to go out for an outdoor jog.” An avid traveller, Kiran likes to explore exotic and faraway lands. Sharing about one of his most memorable holidays, he says, “I enjoyed Santorini, Greece with my family. It has serene views of cliff faces set in pristine waters and surreal sunsets. I was also fortunate to visit Svalbard, Norway on a photography expedition and we managed to capture some amazing shots of polar bears, marine wildlife, and landscapes. The Svalbard archipelago is vastly uninhabited and has incredible sights with floating icebergs and the midnight sun in summer.” Kiran boasts of a penchant for the refined science of molecular gastronomy and fancies a variety of cuisines from across the globe. “I am a foodie and I really enjoy French, Italian and Turkish cuisine,” he shares. “Fatherhood,” Kiran says, “has ushered a new perspective of work-life dynamics. I am married with a three-year-old son. I enjoy spending time with him and my family, and rediscovering the pleasure of simple things we take for granted as adults.” Kiran is also an adventure sports enthusiast. Revealing this interesting aspect to his personality, he says with a boyish charm, “I have trekked to the base camp of Mt Everest. I am a member of Malgudi Mavericks, a motorcycle enthusiasts group in Mysore, and have ridden to Goa and Valparai from Mysore.” A keen wildlife enthusiast, he loves to combine his passion for travelling and exploring the wild and rich fauna and flora. “I have combined my passion for travel and wildlife and explored lesser trodden paths for experiencing different cultures, topography, flora and fauna. My travels have taken me to Svalbard —Norway, Great Bear rainforest — British Columbia, Pantanal — Brazil and Costa Rica. Kabini National Park in Karnataka which is famous for its spectacular wildlife and colourful birds or wildlife tiger reserve in Ranthambore or Bandhavgarh National park are some of my favourite local destinations,” says Kiran.

Unbearable odour dampens spirit of devotees

Ujjain : With the sheer mismanagement on Simhastha Mela premises, the pilgrims are compelled to go through a dreadful experience as the unbearable odour fuming from the effluents leaking out of the septic tanks has made life hell across the fair. As the month-long Simhastha Mahakumbh is heading towards its culmination, scores of anomalies practised by the administration has surfaced. The biggest problem the pilgrims are going through is the odour spreading over the Mela area due to the effluents leaking out of the septic tanks built temporarily in the encampments and for the public use. Septic tanks built for the public toilets across the Mela premises are getting overflow with the large influx of devotees using the toilets. The Mela authority has failed to manage the things and hence the odour is causing great inconvenience to the visitors. As the final Shahi Snan is going to be held on May 21, enormous crowd is thronging to the Mela premises. People are compelled to defecate in open as the community toilets are not cleaned properly. Even the sewerage lines are broken at certain places which are posing a great problem to the visitors. The community toilet near Bharat Seva Ashram in Bhukhi Mata sector is the place where visitors are unable to use the toilets due to the mud and mire prevailed in its surrounding. The odour fuming out of the septic tanks has made life hell for the saints and their guests residing in the surrounding.

Protein that filters odour information

A 30 year-old mystery surrounding the function of a protein in our smell receptors has been solved after researchers revealed it plays a vital role in filtering data from smell receptors. The findings suggest that olfactory marker protein (OMP), a molecule found in the cells that detect odour molecules, plays a key role in regulating the speed and transmission of odour information to the brain. Led by researchers from the Monell Center, the study solves a three-decade-old mystery regarding the function of OMP, and increases understanding of how the olfactory system integrates information to transmit accurate data about odours and the messages they contain. "At any one time, thousands of different odour molecules arrive at the smell receptors in our noses to provide detailed information about the surrounding world. OMP helps the smell receptor cells filter this vast amount of information so that animals can respond appropriately," said Monell cellular physiologist Johannes Reisert, PhD, the study's senior author. Smell signalling Writing in the Journal of Neuroscience, the team explained that the process of converting the chemical information from an odour molecule into an electrical signal that can be transmitted to the brain is controlled by a complex sequence of molecular events called olfactory transduction. Although scientists previously knew that OMP had a role in this process, the exact nature of its role was unclear, until now. In the new study, Reisert and his team found that OMP – expressed in mature smell receptors known as olfactory receptor neurons (ORNs) – controls the level of signalling from receptors to the brain by filtering out base levels from ‘background noise’. In mice genetically engineered to lack OMP, the Monell researchers saw a resulting increase in base levels of cellular signals known as cAMP. This increase in base levels blocked differentiation between cellular signals from ‘background’ and a true stimulus. "What this tells us is that OMP dampens cAMP 'noise' to allow the olfactory system to differentiate between odorant receptors and to allow faithful transmission of odour information to the brain," said Reisert. "Understanding how olfactory marker protein and the odorant receptors dictate olfactory receptor neuron responses will help drive the direction of future studies to understand how ORNs contribute to our ability to experience and respond to our olfactory world," added Michele Dibattista, first author of the study. Source: Journal of Neuroscience Volume 36, Issue 10, Pages 2995-3006, doi: 10.1523/JNEUROSCI.4209-15.2016 “The Odorant Receptor-Dependent Role of Olfactory Marker Protein in Olfactory Receptor Neurons” Authors: M. Dibattista, J. Reisert

Scientists say that body odour is manliness

MEN who want to appear more manly should consider how nice they smell, new research has found. Scientists at the University of Stirling say that applying deodorant can increase the perceived level of masculinity among men not usually counted as the most rugged among the population. However, this is not the case for those who already have high levels of masculinity, meaning that personal odour counts. The study, which investigated what effect wearing deodorant has on assessing masculinity and femininity, asked 130 female and male participants rate the traits using photographs while a further 239 men and women rated odour samples of 40 opposite sex individuals. The research found that women appear to be more sensitive or attentive to odour cues than males, and men rated low from their photos could increase their masculinity by applying a deodorant Dr Caroline Allen, Psychology researcher at the University of Stirling, who led the study, said: “Our study found that when women apply a deodorant it does increase their rated body odour femininity, as would be expected. "Though it seems as though something else is at play when it comes to male body odour and male deodorants. Only those men who were rated low in masculinity to start with showed a significant increase after applying their deodorants, and the men who were highly masculine initially showed no increase after deodorant application." She added: “This means that men are able to use deodorant to artificially raise their game so to speak, levelling the playing field by making themselves comparable, at least as far as odour is concerned, to more masculine men. "Our evolutionary preferences have likely shaped this difference in fragrance design: research findings show that we actually don't like high levels of masculinity which are often associated with aggressiveness and hostility, but we show no upper limit on our femininity preferences.”