Environmental sanitation is a very crucial problem in a crowding world. Special attention to waste management is necessary in areas where intense production of any kind takes place: in agriculture, industry, mining, construction, too. Odor can be thought as the signal of the nature to warn us if microbial or chemical contamination risk is nearby. Public health and welfare can be sustained only by proper handling and management of wastes. In many cases, waste problems arise due to gas emissions, liquid discharges or solid disposal. Besides, they can co-exist and have the potential of converting into one another with or without human interference. They are accompanied by noxious and offensive odor releases in many cases. Odor, among several others, is a serious problem in solid waste disposal. Odor recognition by the population is likely in collecting, transferring, pre-screening and classification of solid wastes. Ultimate removal of the wastes at solid waste disposal units is an odorous operation, too. Leachates coming from different types of solid wastes may emit unacceptable odors. Odor detection is a subjective experience as it is based on human smelling ability. Its perception, therefore the level of complaint varies from one individual to another. It depends on the hedonic tone of the odor so it is subject to human preferences, too. If the intensity of the stimulant increases above a certain ceiling, it is possible that smelling ability is paralyzed temporarily or sometimes permanently. But the noxious odor problems around waste facilities are to be resolved as if the odor stimulation affects everybody alike. Normally an average smelling capacity is taken as the reference recognition level in odor studies. In practice there is no escaping from odorous gas releases at one or the other stage of the collection, handling and disposal of solid wastes. Odor characteristics and intensity differ from one step or method to another. Presently, odor control in waste management may be accomplished by state-of-the-art technologies. In the landfills these technologies may be applied on collected gas streams arising from anaerobic decomposition and continues with transfer, cleaning/separation, treatment, handling/storage at the landfill degasification systems and finally converted into heat and power. Odorous components are simply adsorbed by suitable cover materials or masked by deodorants. In older landfills fugitive landfill gas emissions may continue for a long time unless they are collected. In any case the wastes should not be disposed-off in wild storage areas and open or uncontrolled dumps without due care. When this happens, solid wastes have the worst impacts on the environment and public well-being. Unfortunately, in several cases acceptable methods of management of solid wastes are difficult to apply. So, public disputes and annoyance are seen frequently. To solve them it is recommended that more public participation such as through citizen science applications be applied to challenges of landfill.

A Review of Odor Problems from Landfills

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发表日期：

2025年

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Aysen Muezzinoglu

摘要

Environmental sanitation is a very crucial problem in a crowding world. Special attention to waste management is necessary in areas where intense production of any kind takes place: in agriculture, industry, mining, construction, too. Odor can be thought as the signal of the nature to warn us if microbial or chemical contamination risk is nearby. Public health and welfare can be sustained only by proper handling and management of wastes. In many cases, waste problems arise due to gas emissions, liquid discharges or solid disposal. Besides, they can co-exist and have the potential of converting into one another with or without human interference. They are accompanied by noxious and offensive odor releases in many cases. Odor, among several others, is a serious problem in solid waste disposal. Odor recognition by the population is likely in collecting, transferring, pre-screening and classification of solid wastes. Ultimate removal of the wastes at solid waste disposal units is an odorous operation, too. Leachates coming from different types of solid wastes may emit unacceptable odors. Odor detection is a subjective experience as it is based on human smelling ability. Its perception, therefore the level of complaint varies from one individual to another. It depends on the hedonic tone of the odor so it is subject to human preferences, too. If the intensity of the stimulant increases above a certain ceiling, it is possible that smelling ability is paralyzed temporarily or sometimes permanently. But the noxious odor problems around waste facilities are to be resolved as if the odor stimulation affects everybody alike. Normally an average smelling capacity is taken as the reference recognition level in odor studies. In practice there is no escaping from odorous gas releases at one or the other stage of the collection, handling and disposal of solid wastes. Odor characteristics and intensity differ from one step or method to another. Presently, odor control in waste management may be accomplished by state-of-the-art technologies. In the landfills these technologies may be applied on collected gas streams arising from anaerobic decomposition and continues with transfer, cleaning/separation, treatment, handling/storage at the landfill degasification systems and finally converted into heat and power. Odorous components are simply adsorbed by suitable cover materials or masked by deodorants. In older landfills fugitive landfill gas emissions may continue for a long time unless they are collected. In any case the wastes should not be disposed-off in wild storage areas and open or uncontrolled dumps without due care. When this happens, solid wastes have the worst impacts on the environment and public well-being. Unfortunately, in several cases acceptable methods of management of solid wastes are difficult to apply. So, public disputes and annoyance are seen frequently. To solve them it is recommended that more public participation such as through citizen science applications be applied to challenges of landfill.