Performance, Mood, and Health during Exposure to Intermittent Odors

Abstract

The effects of intermittent bursts of pleasant, unpleasant, and no experimental odor on human task performance, mood, and perceived health were tested in this study. Odors did not influence any of these measures; however, subjects who had been exposed to the malodors reported retrospectively that they thought the odors had a negative effect on all of these factors. These findings have implications for the methodological design and interpretation of air quality studies.