8 Home Smells That Could Be Signs of Danger - Today's Homeowner (2023)

FAQs

What smells should I worry about in my house? ›

A musty or dusty smell is often a sign of mold or mildew, especially in humid or moisture-prone environments like the basement, laundry room, kitchen, or bathroom. Mold and mildew can create severe respiratory problems and can exacerbate allergies and asthma in sensitive individuals.

A weird smell in a house can come from numerous sources, including appliances, furniture, carpets, fabrics or issues like mold or mildew. Occasionally, odors may be caused by sewer gas, natural gas leaks or animals that have died between walls, in attics or under decks.

While that "new home smell" may sound like a good thing, unfortunately it is mostly the fumes from so-called volatile organic chemicals (VOCs) floating off new furniture, new paint, and new carpets. Those VOCs are not just unpleasant to smell, but they are also unhealthy.

It's often described as musty and earthy, and may even smell like rotting vegetables or plants. You might notice a musty smell, but not be able to see any mold growing. In this case, you should look for areas that might be exposed to water.

This smell is probably septic gas, unless you have a carton of eggs hiding in your living room. Septic gas has a strong, naturally occurring odor that smells like rotten eggs. The smell is hydrogen sulfide, which comes from sewage and indicates a potential issue with your plumbing.

Old things give off the musty odor of age, and the elderly tend to live surrounded by old things, points out Brenda Thompson of Tri-Country Home Nursing. “All those old books and papers, old linens and clothes — they all harbor dust and dampness and give off a musty odor that can pervade the whole house.

Take the mustelid family of mammals, which includes minks, weasels, otters and badgers, among others. All mustelids have anal scent glands that can emit foul-smelling secretions, according to Animal Diversity Web(Opens in a new window). Different mustelid species use their secretions for different purposes.

Can smells in your house make you sick? ›

Some chemicals with strong odors may cause eye, nose, throat or lung irritation. Strong odors may cause some people to feel a burning sensation that leads to coughing, wheezing or other breathing problems. People who smell strong odors may get headaches or feel dizzy or nauseous.

Examples include ammonia, bleach, gasoline, and paint. These smells usually indicate danger to our brains. Pungent: It is a sharp and bad smell. These scents make a person feel when they smell it. Examples include blue cheese, cigar smoke, fecal matter (e.g., manure), sweat, and sometimes, smells of onion and garlic.

Freon usually travels through closed copper coils in an AC unit, but these coils can crack and result in an AC coolant leak. A freon leak will produce a smell between sweet and chloroform.

You notice a rotten-egg smell

To help detect the smell of gas, a harmless chemical called mercaptan is added to give leaked gas a distinctive odor. Most people describe the scent like rotten eggs or a hydrogen sulfide odor. Utility companies aren't the only ones to use the mercaptan additive.

The most dangerous cause of a rotten egg smell is a gas leak. When you smell sulfur in the home, go outside and contact a local gas professional. Once a pro rules out a gas leak, troubleshoot other causes like drain pipe issues. Other causes of the rotten egg smell include sulfuric well water and broken drain pipes.

Some people are sensitive to molds. For these people, exposure to molds can lead to symptoms such as stuffy nose, wheezing, and red or itchy eyes, or skin. Some people, such as those with allergies to molds or with asthma, may have more intense reactions.

Once you have a fresh olfactory slate to work with, there are some tried-and-true scents to use for helping to sell a house, including vanilla, citrus (like orange or lemon), and other clean, fresh scents. Cilantro and cucumber are also good, as are aromatic kitchen herbs such as thyme or rosemary.

What do realtors use to make a house smell good? ›

Trimethylaminuria. In this condition, your body can't break down a compound called trimethylamine. This chemical on its own smells like rotten eggs, rotting fish, or garbage. As trimethylamine collects in your body, your sweat, breath, and urine will smell rotten or fishy.

Hydrogen sulfide gas (H₂S) can give water a “rotten egg” taste or odor. This gas can occur in wells anywhere and be: Naturally occurring - a result of decay and chemical reactions with soil and rocks. Produced by certain “sulfur bacteria” in the groundwater, well, or plumbing system.

A dry P-trap is one of the most common causes of sewer smell in your bathroom. The P-trap is a U-shaped pipe located under the sink or drains. It is used to trap water beneath the drain, preventing sewer smells from reaching the bathroom.

Our natural circadian rhythms change as we age, and we experience a natural slowdown in energy production. This means that sleep becomes more important as the body recovers and restores lost energy.

Neutralize the air

An open container of baking soda or white vinegar, kept in an unobtrusive place (for example on top of your kitchen cupboards), can help absorb smells and clear the air. Experts also recommend FreshWave or DampRid, two all-natural substances that absorb smells and trap excess moisture in the air.

Stink bugs range in size from half an inch to an inch in size, but their most notable characteristic is the one that gives them their name. When stink bugs are frightened, disturbed, or killed by crushing, they emit a pungent odor that some describe as skunk-like. Some say it smells like the foliage of tomato plants.

LONDON (Reuters) - Elephants can literally smell danger, according to a study on Thursday that shows the animals can sniff out whether humans are friends or foes.

What do roaches smell like? People often use words like musty, oily, sooty, or mildewy to describe roach smell. The Oriental roach is said to produce one of the worst smells, but German and American roaches can also give off a foul stench.

What does a freon leak smell like? ›

Freon usually travels through closed copper coils in an AC unit, but these coils can crack and result in an AC coolant leak. A freon leak will produce a smell between sweet and chloroform.

Carbon monoxide gas is colourless and does not smell, so you cannot tell if it is around you.

Baking soda: Open a container and place it in the area where the smell originated. Coffee grounds: Put used coffee grounds in shallow bowls and place around your house. The coffee grounds will absorb and eliminate smells. White vinegar: Bowls of white vinegar can act as an odor neutralizer.

If it is outdoors, or if the windows are open, then the smell is stronger near the source. Moving your nose from place to place is a way to determine the gradient of concentration of smelly molecules. Follow the direction of the gradient to locate the source.

You may smell an odor of ether, chloroform, or sweetness from the vents or the air conditioner itself. This is the odor of the refrigerant. According to the Department of Energy, refrigerant leaks are harmful to the environment, and exposure to the refrigerant may be harmful to your health.

In heavily humid climates, your air conditioner may be overrun by the excess condensation and moisture. This standing water in the condensation pan can start to take on a pungent smell that has been likened to vinegar or a musty sour smell.

The most common symptoms of CO poisoning are headache, dizziness, weakness, upset stomach, vomiting, chest pain, and confusion.

This smell is probably septic gas, unless you have a carton of eggs hiding in your living room. Septic gas has a strong, naturally occurring odor that smells like rotten eggs. The smell is hydrogen sulfide, which comes from sewage and indicates a potential issue with your plumbing.

What does Sulfur Smell Like? Sulfide and sulfur containing compounds have a characteristic odor reminiscent of burnt matches, skunk, rotted eggs, or natural gas.

What absorbs that smell in the house? ›

Baking soda is one of the best items you can use to absorb bad smells. You can leave an open box or bowl of baking soda in your refrigerator and sprinkle some in the bottom of your trash cans to neutralize foul odors that tend to develop in these places.

No matter what type of unpleasant smell you currently have in your home, a good air purifier will not only help to reduce or eliminate it, but will make the air you breathe healthier and fresher as well.

You might not be able to see or smell radon, but it can still harm you—slowly, and in ways that you can't detect. Radon is a colorless, odorless, radioactive gas.

For centuries, our sense of smell has been used as a diagnostic tool in the practice of medicine, be it for recognising gas gangrene on the battle field or diabetic ketoacidosis in the emergency room. In recent decades, many scent detection studies have been performed with human, animal and electronic noses.