The first face-to-face meeting and fourth meeting in total of the group dealing with a new Spanish standard on the use of psychometry to map odours took place in Barcelona in September. A group of 10 experts met to discuss this new text that hopefully will become a new standard, but how is going to be named the text? Mapping odour? mapping annoyance? Collaborative mapping?

   This group is taking another step on traditional psychometry using citizen observations to try to take a photo of the odour impact in a certain area with alternative tools. In this case, instead of using surveys, diaries or performing personal interviews, the maps are being made dynamically by using an app that print time and location of an odour observation.

   Traditionally odour dose-response studies have been based on questionnaires, surveys, odour diaries, etc under the scope of some guidelines and standards (e.g VDI 3883). However, this methodology has serious limitations. For example, they lack precision on recording time and location stamp of an incident. That is why a group of experts from Spain have decided to work on a new methodology to map annoyance based on citizen science and other tools. Second meeting of this group that discusses about  linking an Odour Impact Critera to an Annoyance Benchmark took place last week. The idea behind is to work together with the Spanish Accreditation Body (UNE) to publish the first standard on this subject.

   Odour Impact Criteria (OIC) set in many parts of the world, are based on dose-response psychometric studies made in Germany and the Netherlands many years ago. Nowadays, with the use of smartphones it is possible to instantaneously record time and location of an odour perception. This is a better way to assess the impact and the only way to link odour with annoyance, that is why a group of experts has met to write the first standard on annoyance mapping.