SENSORIAL TECHNIQUES OF ODOUR MEASUREMENTS – A RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN ODOUR CONCENTRATION AND ODOUR INTENSITY FOR A SELECTED WASTE MANAGEMENT FACILITY

Sensory analyses are one of the most frequently used odour research methods that allow establishing the most important odour characteristics, i.e. odour concentration and odour intensity, characterised by a high degree of interrelationship. During an11-month study odour concentration and intensity were measured at selected mechanical-biological solid municipal waste treatment plant at 35 measuring locations to assess the degree of correlation between those two parameters. Commonly used Weber-Fechner law was applied to assess the correlation. Results indicate a high degree of correlation between odour concentration and intensity, for example, R2 valued for two different approaches at 0.87, and 0.95, while Pearson’s r valued at 0.93, and 0.97. Following the results this proves that odour concentration and odour intensity could potentially be used interchangeably for odour assessment. However, applying Weber-Fechner law for prediction of odour concentration based on odour intensity measurements gives imprecise results. Such approach could be potentially applied when limited measurements of odour concentration are available as determination of odour intensity that could be performed even by Facility employees.