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nairaland.net • View topic - Odor

Odor

Odor

Postby Richard Akindele » Sun Jul 03, 2011 2:32 pm

If you're a normal human being, you're repulsed by the smell of human feces. There is no smell quite like this ball of mass, deposited once to three or more times each day.

People do their best to avoid this odor. For instance when somebody has just used the toilet, a typical person would rather wait a little while for the odor to dissipate, before going into that room.

It is said that eating spicy food increases the smell. This is because a large part of the of the spice go undigested. I've also personally noticed that a heavy vegetable diet has the same effect.

The biggest question is, why does human waste smell? What does it contain that makes it release such horrendous, disturbing odor?

Here is the answer provided by Wikipedia...

"The distinctive odor of feces is due to bacterial action. Gut flora produce compounds such as indole, skatole, and thiols (sulfur-containing compounds), as well as the inorganic gas hydrogen sulfide.

These are the same compounds that are responsible for the odor of flatulence. Consumption of foods with spices may result in the spices being undigested and adding to the odor of feces".

So that is the answer. Sulphur and sulphides. If you have been in chemistry labs like I have, you know that sulphides do smell.

Many sulfur compounds are odiferous, and the smell of odorized natural gas, skunk scent, grapefruit, and garlic is due to sulfur compounds. Hydrogen sulfide produced by living organisms imparts the characteristic odor to rotting eggs and other biological processes.
Richard Akindele
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