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ogisan | 3 years ago

In the article: “The odours defied the expected effects of dilution since workers in the laboratory did not find the odours intolerable.”

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rsfern|3 years ago

I think that bit is saying the chemists who synthesized the compound were desensitized to it, it’s right after a passage where they were ostracized and sprayed with deodorant at a restaurant during lunch

CommitSyn|3 years ago

Full quote, which seems to say it defies the expected effects of dilution _because_ the chemists weren't bothered by it when they were right next to it, but when they were many yards away they could.

"The odours defied the expected effects of dilution since workers in the laboratory did not find the odours intolerable ... and genuinely denied responsibility since they were working in closed systems. To convince them otherwise, they were dispersed with other observers around the laboratory, at distances up to a quarter of a mile, and one drop of either acetone gem-dithiol or the mother liquors from crude trithioacetone crystallisations were placed on a watch glass in a fume cupboard. The odour was detected downwind in seconds."

In other words, the smell intensity increases with dilution, _not_ decreases. We must protect this data from the homeopaths.

black6|3 years ago

Hydrogen sulfide rapidly desensitized the nose, it wouldn't be surprising for other sulfur compounds to do the same.

junon|3 years ago

I don't think so. In NileRed's video it was clear that dilution made the odor worse than bring right next to it, which otherwise invoked a "chemical"-ey smell rather than a putrid trash+sewage smell.

JohnBooty|3 years ago

I've never smelled this chemical, but I wonder if it's a little bit like skunk spray smell?

There's a saying! "Skunks don't have the WORST smell, just the MOST smell"

It's not the worst smell in the world. I would say it's not even remotely as unpleasant as summertime "dumpster soup", sewage, or whatever. But man, skunk smell is just so intense and overwhelming.

toomanyrichies|3 years ago

> “Skunks don't have the WORST smell, just the MOST smell"

I did my coding bootcamp in downtown Chicago, near the Merch Mart, and (at least back in 2013) there was a chocolate factory not too far away. I remember walking to class and being almost overpowered by the smell. For awhile it turned me off of chocolate entirely, and I normally have a pretty strong sweet tooth.

I remember feeling so sorry for the people who had to work there, day after day.

dclowd9901|3 years ago

When my dog got sprayed by a skunk, it smelled overwhelmingly like a combination of burning rubber and rotten motor oil. Neither of these brands of smells is the worst I’ve ever encountered from a pure quality standpoint, but yes, it felt like it completely coated your nasal and throat passages. You choke on it.

dieselgate|3 years ago

Yes your last sentence all the way