Study of Odor Qualification of Solvents Used In Coating Compositions

By Patrick D. Ziemer, James Woo, Taki Anagnostou,

A review of the literature regarding human odor perception reveals significant variation in the threshold limit value. This is especially true with solvents used in coating compositions. Therefore, in order to more accurately determine threshold concentrations, a series of experiments were run using the Devlin olfactometer.

Nineteen solvents were evaluated. Solvents were rated using Steven’s Law parameters K, which gives an indication of odor magnitude potential, and n, which characterizes the effects of dilution. In addition, equations were established from which the minimum solvent concentration for human odor detection could be calculated.