Odour studies and health risk assessment: Two complementary approaches in response to residents' complaints

Abstract

In this paper we present an approach to assess odour impact is based on odour measurements and air dispersion modelling. This approach makes it possible to estimate the frequency of odour perception and nuisance in the near vicinity of industrial, agricultural or municipal facilities. A health risk assessment, based on toxicological reference values (TRVs), is also presented in order to consider the toxicity of odorous molecules in impact studies (chronic exposure of the population). This paper reports the joint and complementary characteristics of these two approaches. © 2007 WIT Press.