Odor

An irritating odor is lingering in several areas of Swansfield Elementary School this week, likely because of trace chemicals left behind by maintenance work done during spring break, Howard County school officials said.The odor poses no danger to students, teachers or staff, officials said, but some parents say they're concerned and at least a couple of families have pulled their children from the west Columbia elementary this week."Primarily, it's just an annoying odor," said Associate Superintendent Sydney Cousin.

The water was running again yesterday in all but two classrooms at the Carroll Springs School.Sinks had been turned off for more than a month, beginning when staff members noticed an odor in the hot tap water on Jan. 23.Adjoining Rooms 9 and 12, the only rooms in the Westminster special education school where the smell was detected, continue to use bottled water for drinking and washing hands. Some people say there still is a faint odor of rubbing alcohol in the hot tap water there."It meets all the criteria for safe public drinking water," said Charles Zeleski, assistant director of environmental health for the Carroll County Health Department.

Frank Marion used to light candles to mask the odor. Marion, who owns a home about 300 feet from the Millersville landfill, has complained since 2008 about the smell of rotten eggs permeating his home on an almost-daily basis. Now, Marion and other neighbors say the odor has gotten progressively worse - stronger and more frequent - and is causing nausea, vomiting and headaches among some residents. "It has totally destroyed my life," Marion said. Last week, about a dozen of the residents met to discuss remedies: They are requesting that Anne Arundel County appoint a third party to monitor emissions from the landfill and to test the air and well water to determine if there are any contaminants.

The county has called for more tests to determine the origin of an intermittent foul odor at Locust House, a subsidized housing complex for the elderly and disabled in Westminster.Air quality tests on samples taken from the building interior three months ago attribute the odor to gasoline, possibly found in a paint-stripping chemical. Levels detected were too low to pose any hazard to residents, according to a report prepared by Scientific Control Inc. of Edgewood."We are satisfied with the results of that specific test but not with the conclusion as far as the origin is concerned," said Greg Keller, a county livability code inspector.

The sugary tang of dew-moist mulch. Steak spitting atop flaring coals. The laundry-fresh fragrance of a breezy April afternoon. Springtime aromas are easy enough to name - but almost impossible for scientists to explain. Why do certain substances smell the way they do? Long after researchers have unraveled many of the central mysteries of vision and the other four senses, they continue to be stumped by smell. Now scientists at Rockefeller University in New York have taken a small step toward solving the puzzle - not by determining what causes odor, but by showing what doesn't.

The Carroll County Board of Housing Review has recommended soil testing to determine the source of an intermittent foul odor at Locust House, a subsidized housing complex for the elderly and disabled in Westminster.In its decision, the five-member board said the county Bureau of Permits and Inspections "did not properly enforce the Minimum Livability Code when it failed to require random exterior soil samples" from land surrounding the seven-story building, home to nearly 100 tenants.The code, enacted by the county a decade ago, protects renters from unsafe housing conditions.

CHICAGO - "We're in the midst of an odor revolution," says Dr. Alan Hirsch.This is not a statement to sniff at, particularly when uttered by Hirsch. As the man in charge at the Smell & Taste Research and Treatment Foundation here, he is among America's foremost odor investigators; a visionary, if that's possible, in the realm of smell.At least part of Hirsch's revolution, though, will not be televised - not if the people who make Good & Plenty candy have anything to say about it. They are not exactly keen on the unusual marketing opportunity Hirsch handed them earlier this year, when he pronounced that the aroma of the sugar-encrusted licorice arouses women sexually - especially when mixed with the perfume of a cucumber.

Anne Arundel County Fire Department officials said a Freon leak Tuesday morning at the Trader Joe's in Annapolis sent two people to the hospital and caused an evacuation of the store. Two hours later, though, the store in the 100 block of Jennifer Road was deemed safe and was reopened, according to fire officials. The incident was reported at about 10:45 a.m., according to fire department Division Chief Kevin Swindle. He said the first unit on the scene found three people suffering respiratory trouble, attributed to an “irritating odor,” he said.

Fire Winfield: Firefighters responded at 7: 45 p.m. Friday to an odor of gas at Arthur Shipley Road and Route 26. Units were out 20 minutes.

FRIE Westminster: Westminster and Reese investigated an odor in the 800 block of Snowfall Way in Autumn Ridge at 4:50 a.m yesterday. Units were out 17 minutes.