Olores.org Newsletter September 2023

   The Clean Air Society of Australia and Zealand (CASANZ) and the International Water Association (IWA) have jointly unveiled an exciting collaboration, presenting the eagerly anticipated 27th CASANZ International Clean Air and Environment Conference, in conjunction with the 10th Odours and Air Emissions Conference in 2024.

   Scheduled to transpire in Hobart, Australia, from the 26th to the 28th of August 2024, this significant event is set to attract professionals, researchers, industry experts, and policymakers from around the world. The primary objective is to facilitate the exchange of invaluable insights, knowledge, and advancements in the realm of odour science, assessment, regulation, management, and engineering.

   The Air & Waste Management Association (A&WMA) is a nonprofit professional organization that focuses on environmental issues, particularly air and waste management. It brings together professionals from various disciplines to collaborate and address challenges related to air quality, waste management, environmental protection, and sustainability. The.A&WMA has announced its inaugural specialty conference, Odour Management: Embracing Global Perspectives, set to take place from May 14 to 16, 2024, at Vantage Venues in Toronto, Ontario, Canada.

   The conference will offer a diverse array of topics, including odour science, chemical forensics, field assessment methods, electronic sensing, policy and regulation, community impacts, and best practices. Additionally, it will cover critical aspects such as source identification, sampling methods, modelling, and mitigation strategies.

   In a bid to enhance odour assessment processes and foster collaboration, the Environmental Protection Authority (EPA) of Victoria, Australia announces the much-anticipated Victoria EPA Guidance for Assessing Odour – Review Workshop. Scheduled for October 25, 2023, this event promises to be a significant milestone in refining odour evaluation practices.

   Hosted at the prestigious EPA Centre for Applied Sciences in Macleod, Victoria, the workshop will gather experts, members, and non-members alike, under one roof. The primary focus is to reflect on the effectiveness of EPA's existing Guidance for Assessing Odour (Publication 1883), initially introduced in May 2022. Over the 18 months of its application, user feedback has indicated opportunities for improvement.

   Italy has recently introduced the UNI/TR 11917:2023 standard, marking a significant milestone in waste management aimed at addressing various environmental concerns associated with biogas collection in landfills. This new Italian standard, published in July, includes specific provisions focusing on odorous emissions.

   The initial discomfort experienced in the vicinity of a landfill primarily arises from the emission of odours due to specific olfactory microcomponents present in biogas. These components encompass esters, sulphur compounds (such as hydrogen sulphide), alkylbenzenes, limonene, mercaptans, putrescine, thiophenols, thioalcohols, thioacids, polyamines, and various hydrocarbons that are released into the atmosphere. The uncollected flow of biogas disperses these olfactorily perceptible microcomponents into the air, and meteorological factors carry them across the surrounding area.

    Gas-Chromatography coupled to Ion Mobility Spectrometry (GC-IMS) has been around for some time and it has been used in several projects to detect the fingerprint of odours.  Recently, a groundbreaking paper has introduced the GCIMS R package, an open-source tool designed to streamline data processing for this cutting-edge technology.

   GC-IMS enables the study of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) in biofluids, giving rise to what's often referred to as "volatilomics." These compounds contribute to the distinct smells associated with breath, saliva, sweat, and more. Importantly, changes in the composition of these VOCs are indicative of various health conditions and can be leveraged for disease diagnosis and drug monitoring.

   On the upcoming 6th of November, the launch event for the upcoming standard PNE 77270 - Collaborative Odour Maps Construction through Citizen Science will take place (in Spanish). The standard approval will be published in the Official State Gazette (BOE) after 4 years of work by the group that has developed it. This marks the official adoption of citizen science as a new standardized methodological approach for monitoring odour impact by governmental bodies and emitting entities in Spain.

   During this event, experts and members of the community who have contributed to the development of this innovative standard will come together. This is the first standard worldwide that utilises citizen science as a tool to assess odour, allowing us to understand the impact of odour pollution.