Appraisal and identification of different sources of smell by primary school children in the air quality test chamber of the SenseLab

Previous studies have shown that next to ‘human smell’, ‘stuffy air’ is one of the discomforts that children report in classrooms. Besides, people’s olfactory system is able to recognize the perceived odour intensity of various materials relatively well and in many cases the nose seems to be a better perceiver of pollutants than some equipment. In the underlying study, the aim was to expose 335 primary children to different sources of smell, and ask them to evaluate and identify those sources at individual level with their noses. Additionally, the possible effect of plants on the reduction and/or production of smells was tested. Selected sources of odour were placed in different containers and the children were asked how they feel about the smell and to identify their source. The results showed statistically significant differences among children’s evaluations of different smells, a link between preference and recognition of odours, and, no statistical difference in the assessment of the smells when the potted plants were placed inside the CLIMPAQ. The results confirm the need to include sensory assessments in the evaluation of IAQ together with physical evaluations. Future studies on the effect of using active vegetation systems instead of passive systems are recommended.