China has introduced the new environmental standard HJ 1416-2025 for the determination of odour concentration and emission rate by dynamic olfactometry. It was published on June 6, 2025, and is set to be implemented on January 1, 2026. The document is identified as a "Industry standard - environment" (Standard No. HJ 1416-2025), which is different from a national standard formally published by the Chinese National Standardization Administration (SAC). Although the methodology proposed is dynamic olfactometry, this 10-page standard is a basic text but technically aligned in many aspects with the recent 124-page EN 13725:2022.
HJ 1416-2025 is an environmental industry standard issued by the Ministry of Ecology and Environment. The official full text in Chinese is publicly accessible from the Ministry of Ecology and Environment website and can be downloaded here. This standard establishes updated, scientifically rigorous methods for assessing odour pollution from ambient air and waste gas sources using dynamic dilution olfactometry with trained human assessors, aligning domestic regulatory practices with international advances in odour measurement.
This HJ 1416-2025 standard represents an alternative over the other recent national standard HJ 1262-2022 based on the triangle bag method. Both methods are now applicable simultaneously in China.
The HJ 1416-2025 incorporates modern improvements in sample dilution methods, panelist selection, equipment calibration, and data processing that better align with international best practices such as those in the European EN 13725 standard. These enhancements improve accuracy, consistency, and reproducibility of odour concentration measurements critical to regulatory compliance.
The measurement is based on the forced-choice principle. Odourless clean air is split into three separate streams: two of these streams are directed through individual odour cups via precise gas mass flow controllers. The third stream is mixed proportionally with the odorous sample within a gas mixing chamber — this blended mixture is then released through a third odour cup for assessment by the odour panellist.
For waste gas samples from fixed emission sources, the dilution ratio is gradually decreased until the panellist correctly identifies the odour, at which point the test concludes. Conversely, for environmental air samples and those from fugitive emission monitoring points, the dilution ratio is progressively increased until the panellist no longer accurately detects the odour, marking the end of the experiment.
This standard was developed and compiled by the Department of Ecological Environment Monitoring and the Department of Regulations and Standards within the Ministry of Ecology and Environment. The principal drafting organisations were the Tianjin Academy of Ecological Environment Sciences, the China National Environmental Monitoring Centre, and the Shanghai Environmental Monitoring Centre.
Verification was conducted by the Tianjin Ecological Environment Monitoring Centre, the Suzhou National High-Tech Industrial Development Zone (Huqiu) Environmental Monitoring Station, the Bao'an Substation of the Shenzhen Ecological Environment Monitoring Station, the Beijing Huairou District Ecological Environment Monitoring Station, the Hulunbuir Ecological Environment Monitoring Station of the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, and the Tianjin Dongli District Ecological Environment Monitoring Centre.
The official full text in Chinese is publicly accessible from the Ministry of Ecology and Environment website and can be downloaded here.
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