Chemical Mass Balance model applied to an olfactory annoyance problematic

The source-receptor model Chemical Mass Balance (CMB) generally used for air pollution studies is applied for the first time to solve odor signature issues. The olfactory annoyance perceived at a receptor site of an industrial area is often the result of a combination of different smells, emitted by several industrial sources. To identify the main responsible for the inconvenience, tools able to determine the contribution of each source directly where the annoyance is perceived are widely developed and deployed. In this work, the contributions of volatile organic compound sources, coming from a waste treatment plant containing three potential sources of olfactory annoyance (waste storage, production of biogas, and compost piles of green wastes) and perceived at a village located downwind, are studied by chemical analyses. The CMB methodology is applied, and the results are finally compared to olfactometric methods, in order to validate whether it is appropriate to use this model for olfactory problems or not.