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Updated: Jun 29, 2026

Real-time In Vitro Monitoring of Odorant Receptor Activation by an Odorant in the Vapor Phase
Published on: April 23, 2019
Does odour cross contamination alter olfactory thresholds in certain odours?
J A Gaskin1, A M Robinson, C M Philpott
1Department of Otorhinolaryngology, University Hospitals of Leicester NHS Trust, Leicester, United Kingdom. julesgaskin@hotmail.com
Objectives:
To determine if 1) there is cross contamination between odours tested on thresholds achieved, 2) a delay period is necessary between testing different odours.
Methods:
Thirty-five subjects underwent threshold testing with phenethyl alcohol (PEA), ethylmercaptan (MER), acetic acid (ACE), and eucalyptol (EUC) using serial logarithmic dilutions. On separate occasions subjects were exposed to high concentrations of PEA, ACE and EUC in random order for two minutes, and thresholds for all four odours re-tested. Pre- and post-high concentration odour thresholds were compared.
Results:
Exposure to high concentrations of PEA, ACE and EUC does not alter olfactory thresholds by more than 10-2 for the other odours except in specific circumstances with ACE and EUV.
Conclusions:
There is limited cross contamination with ACE and EUC, which is avoided by specifying presentation order as: PEA, MER, ACE, EUC. Odours PEA, MER, ACE and EUC are recommended for olfactory testing.
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