Poluarea olfactivă sau miasmele pe căile aerului
Olfactory pollution or airborne miasmas

Summary/Abstract: The study has as subject olfactory pollution and it aims to outline first that this type of pollution is far from being a mere discomfort that most sensitive people feel acutely, because unpleasant odours, miasmas, are proof of some chemical substances with harmful effects on the human body. Then, the article shows that while the number of public complaints is steadily increasing, the regulations – national, foreign, European – still have a timid and anaemic nature.From the results of the researches it follows, first, that the olfactory pollution is related to the wider theme of air pollution, which as an essential element of life (and therefore to us people!) must meet a number of conditions expressed by: temperature, humidity, purity, chemical composition. These conditions must lie within the limits of tolerance of the human body and of existence of the fauna and flora; due to natural phenomena, as well as to human activities, in the modern society, air has undergone major changes materialized either in the change of concentration of some natural compounds or in the penetration of some elements unknown to this environment, radioactive substances, chemical substances resulting from human activities, the air thus becoming the „garbage dump” for all gas or gaseous wastes produced by the living. Therefore, we are talking about a polluted air, not just when it is manifested by the presence of substances other than the natural composition of the air, but also when their quantity makes it unsuitable for the fulfilment of its roles. Starting from here, for the specialists in different fields, the notion of „polluted air” will have different meanings; thus, for the physician, the air is polluted when the concentration of unknown substances reaches harmful levels for the human body, while for industrial technologist, concerned with corrosion, when the pollutants reach concentrations that alter the structure and operation of plants. The diversity and the number of pollutants that can contaminate the atmosphere make it actually impossible to have a complete inventory thereof; however, three major human activities (industry, means of transportation, domestic heating) are at the origin of two types of pollution: acid pollution, result of the use of fossil fuels (gas, coal), noticeable especially during cold season, and oxidative pollution, generated by the exhaust gas and some industrial activities, manifesting especially during periods of sunshine. Today, pollution is present everywhere, in overcrowded cities, along roads, where traffic is intense, in industrial areas.Secondly, olfactory pollution is related to odour, which is analyzed differently by chemistry – which sees it as an assembly of molecules with specific properties which, inhaled by human beings, generates a specific reaction – or by physiology – according to which odour is a stimulus induced by molecules and certain mechanisms in the organs involved in the olfactory sense. The ones responsible for the accentuated evolution of olfactory pollution are the animal farms, the slaughterhouses, the tanneries, the refineries, the paint shops, the municipal waste dumps, the wastewater treatment plants, etc., all of these are sources of bad smelling emanations and all are the result of a mix of causes – industrialization, urbanization, demographic explosion. The substances emitted by the sources of bad smelling emissions – gases of organic, inorganic origin and particles – are not a negligible factor in managing a person’s well-being; therefore, they can influence our health, through side effects such as nausea, insomnia, discomfort, and mood as well, affecting us even at emotional level. In addition, very strong odours can irritate the nose, the eyes and the throat, and may worsen the condition of persons with asthma and respiratory problems.Regarding the regulations in the matter, whether national, foreign or European, it results from the researches that they are few, brief and occurring in areas wider than olfactory pollution (as in the case of Directive 2010/75/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council of 24 November 2010 on industrial emissions – prevention and integrated control of pollution). This state of facts has several causes that derive also from the characteristics of the substances, as follows: substances with different chemical structures may have similar odours; the nature and „power” of the odour can change at the same time with the dilution of the substance in the atmospheric air; weaker odours are not perceived in the presence of strong ones; the odours of the same „power” mix and produce combinations in which one or more of them can not be recognized; the exposure of an individual to a constant intensity of an odour leads to the diminishing of olfactory sensitivity and loss of unpleasant sensation until the odour varies in intensity; being used to a certain odour will not affect the perception of a similar odour, but it will damage the identification of close flavours; two or more substances with different odours can mutually cancel each other’s effect; odours move in the direction of the wind, at the same time with the substances that produce them; the volatility of gaseous substances increases once with increasing temperature, which is why odours are felt faster and stronger at high temperatures; due to genetic conformation, some people can not perceive certain odours, such as cyanide – the almond flavour. Incriminated for the difficult nature of measuring the different physico-chemical methods of olfactory pollution is not only the occurrence of pollution, even at very low concentrations of substances, and generally in the case of interaction with different substances, but also the fact that the polluting effects of odour emissions depend very much on the sensitivity and subjective attitude of those involved.As far as the situation of Romania is concerned, it appears to be covered with garbage, garbage dumps, true outbreaks of infection and sources of olfactory pollution; the cases from domestic case law are also related, for the most part, to garbage dumps. Regulations on air quality are contained, in particular, in the Law on the quality of ambient air No 104/2011, which sets maximum admissible limits for the main pollutants in the ambient air: sulphur dioxide, nitrogen dioxide, carbon monoxide, PM10 powders, etc.; and STAS 12574-87 – Air in Protected Areas, which regulates the main odour-generating chemical pollutants: ammonia, hydrogen sulphide, aldehydes, mercaptans, etc. Regulations with few references to odours damaging to environment are found in the Order for the approval of public hygiene and public health norms regarding the living environment of the population No 119/2014 – which establishes the minimum sanitary protection distances between protected territories and a series of units that cause discomfort and risks to the health of the population; and Law on industrial emissions No 278/2013 which has as purpose the prevention and integrated control of pollution resulting from industrial activities, establishing the conditions for the prevention or, if not possible, for reducing emissions to air, water and soil, as well as for preventing generation of waste, so as to reach a high level of environmental protection, taken as a whole.Regarding the fact that there is no regulation that strictly takes into account the olfactory pollution, we have considered that, de lege ferenda, it should be adopted a law that has as object to monitor and measure unpleasant odours. As we know, there are accredited laboratories for measuring air quality in our country, but there are no accredited laboratories for measuring industrial odours, yet air quality results from the lack of miasmas as well. In addition, such a regulation would give to the institutions with attributions in the field (e.g. the National Environmental Guard) the possibility to apply effective measures to solve the aspects of olfactory discomfort about which many Romanian citizens are constantly complaining.At the theoretical and practical implications of the study, we specify that it is added to the few studies in the field and then that it may contribute to the elaboration of a future and so necessary law that should regulate olfactory pollution.

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