Odor

There is nothing funny about the funny odor plaguing a classroom at Whitehall Elementary School in Monroe Township, parents and teachers say. Members of Whitehall's Parents Advisory Council say the odor, described as a dry, caustic smell, has been strong enough to send a teacher to the hospital and sicken some students. Baffled in their attempts to trace the odor's source, school board officials hope to meet tonight with the advisory council and Testwell-Craig Laboratories of Mays Landing, which tested the classroom for possible contaminants on Feb. 27. The board expects to release final results of those tests at the meeting.

More than 75 parents blocked the doors of a West Philadelphia elementary school this morning, effectively closing down the school to protest an incident Wednesday when scores of pupils and employees were sickened by an odor in the building. Teachers also stayed outside the school, although some later entered the building to be with children who remained on the scene because their parents were at work. The parents at the William Cullen Bryant School, at 60th Street and Cedar Avenue, said they were worried that the school building is unsafe after many children reported headaches, dizziness and vomiting Wednesday.

Dear Polly: Help! Our freezer failed and some fish thawed, leaving a terrible odor. How can I get the smell out of the freezer? - Alice Wash out the interior of the freezer with a solution of half vinegar, half water. This may take care of the problem. If not, you'll need to do a more thorough cleaning and deodorizing. Wash the interior with a half-and-half mixture of chlorine bleach and water to kill any bacteria. Then, place a shallow pan of activated charcoal in the unit, turn it on, close the door and let it sit for a week.

Market-Frankford train commuters are making a big stink about an overpowering stench of raw sewage that has SEPTA's 11th Street subway station smelling like a country outhouse. "The odor is so foul it makes me ill," said Marsha Rogozinski, of Bridesburg, about what she called "a God-awful smell that has been around for months. " Donna Craig said the last time she smelled anything so rank was when the compressor in her refrigerator broke down. "A carton of extra large eggs inside went sour, just like this station," said Craig, of West Philadelphia.

School-district officials met with concerned parents last night at Atlantis Elementary School, declaring it safe for students but in need of repairs. A mysterious musty odor forced officials to close the school for nearly a week after some parents feared it was making children sick. The school reopened Tuesday after testing by the district's environmental consultant, E. Marko Associates. The odor was caused by wet insulation, a leaky roof and faulty ventilation, said JoAnn Gonzalez-Major, a consultant with E. Marko.

Responding to hundreds of telephone complaints, fire trucks and Philadelphia Gas Works crews scurried all over West and Northwest Philadelphia trying to track down the source of a noxious odor yesterday afternoon. The quick and massive response from the agencies may have been related to natural gas explosions that severely damaged rowhouses in the Kensington section Saturday night and in Overbrook on Jan. 10. The crews did not find the source of the odor last night. Nor did an inspector with the air management services division of the city's Health Department.

Pet odor is a frequent cause of animals' falling into disfavor at home or inspiring complaints from neighbors. A household with pets should smell as sweet as one without, so before you start blaming the animals, consider how good a housekeeper you are. Do you regularly scrub, vacuum, dust and air your premises? A clean, healthy pet should be odor-free. There are no animal smells in homes in which the pets are well; where cat litter boxes are dumped (not merely sifted) and scrubbed daily with soap and water; where dogs and cats are thoroughly brushed three to four times a week and their ears cleaned weekly; where pet bedding is removable and washed every few days.

Residents of a Springfield Township apartment complex have been evacuated from their homes because of an unidentified chemical odor. A number of residents reportedly have been taken to a hospital. Their conditions are not known. The apartment complex is at 610 E. Woodland Ave. Firefighters have been there since about 7:30 a.m. Officials are trying to determine the source of the odor.

They smelled it first in South Philadelphia. Then it was over Center City and moving into North Philadelphia. And before the hour was past, the complaints of a strange odor were pouring in to police dispatchers in Montgomery County. Beginning about 7:45 p.m., police, fire and other agencies in Philadelphia and eastern Montgomery County were inundated with calls from people who said they smelled natural gas or rotten eggs. Crews from the Philadelphia Gas Works and the city's Air Management Services worked throughout the area trying to find the source.

On a recent Saturday, Larry Katzke bought some premium steak filets at a gourmet shop and eagerly anticipated the pleasure of cooking them behind his Upper Gwynedd Township home. But Katzke's first barbecue of the spring was rudely interrupted. "I walked out of the house at about 6:15 to light the barbecue," Katzke recalled. "I was met by this extremely acrid odor. It made my eyes water, and it nauseated me. " Katzke threw the steaks on the grill, rushed inside and called three township supervisors.

Janice Sachen of Chicago offers what she says is a sure cure for that cat-urine smell. "My older cat started urinating on the basement floor and she would always go back to the same spot because she could smell the urine. "I tried everything to mask the smell to no avail. Finally I tried peroxide, the regular drugstore kind, although there are stronger concentrations available at chemical supply houses. "I sprayed a full-strength solution on the concrete area, and it neutralized the smell.

I don't know what I'd do without Joe Ponessa, the Rutgers professor emeritus who, time after time, for as long as I have been writing this column, has stepped in to bail me out of my ignorance. This time, it's about cat urine, an issue that a reader asked about a few weeks back. Cat urine is an especially difficult contaminant to deal with, especially if it's a long-term problem, he says. While Ponessa is not sure anything would fully eliminate odors from long-term staining, there are a couple of easy things he suggests trying before resorting to some kind of coating.

Question: Is there any wood or laminate flooring or anything else I could use in the kitchen that does not smell? I have bad allergies. The smells in flooring that I have tried in the past have lasted from about a month to more than a year, and I need to replace floors because of Hurricane Sandy. I have a few different floors to work on. Any suggestions would be appreciated. Answer: There are a number of flooring products on the market that do not off-gas or require adhesives that release chemicals into the air. One I see recommended often, in large part for its sustainability, is bamboo, even though much of it has to be transported from China and Vietnam, adding to the carbon footprint.

We'll begin today's exercise with advice from Bill Saunders of Whately, Mass. "A recent reader raised a question about an unexplained sewer odor in his bathroom. "I had the same problem and came up with all kinds of theories - dry drain trap, leaks. After a very long time, I stumbled over the answer. There is a lever mechanism in the drain just below the sink, and hair in the drain water gets caught on this lever and accumulates into a thick, sticky wad. If left long enough, it rots and stinks to high heaven.

When psychologist Johan Lundstrom decided to test whether there really was an "old people smell" he got good news and bad news. Unfortunately, he found, people can tell the difference in body odor among young, middle-aged, and old people. The good news is people aren't very good at telling which odors came from which age group. Also on the bright side: Women smell no worse as they age and men get nicer smelling after 75. Lundstrom, who works at the University of Pennsylvania and the Monell Chemical Senses Center, said he decided to investigate this matter when giving a recent talk at a retirement home near Philadelphia.

Residents were evacuated from two floors of a Rittenhouse Square apartment building today after an unusual odor was detected on the seventh floor. Eight people - seven women, a man and a child - were taken to area hospitals complaining of throat irritation, officials said. One resident compared the sensation to pepper spray. About 30 people were evacuated from the seventh and eighth floors of the building at 201S. 18th St. before the situation was declared under control around 11 a.m. Fire Department Hazmat Unit members donned protective gear before heading to the 25th Floor for a top to down search for the source of the odor.

An odor noticed by residents on both sides of the Delaware River turned out to be from an oil leak in Gloucester County. The New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection said Thursday that 157,000 barrels of crude oil had spilled from a tank at the Paulsboro Refining Co. The 6.6 million gallons leaked into an emergency containment area, which had the capacity to hold much more. As a result, the DEP said, there was not an immediate threat to the river or local water supplies. Initial air monitoring by the Gloucester County Health Department and by refinery personnel did not indicate airborne health hazards.

That odor noticed by many residents of Gloucester County in South Jersey and Delaware County in Pennsylvania turned out to be a large oil leak. The New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection said last night that 157,000 barrels of crude oil spilled from a tank at the Paulsboro Refining Company in Gloucester County. But the oil, amounting to 6.6 million gallons, leaked into an emergency containment area, which had the capacity to hold much more. As a result, there was not an immediate threat to the Delaware River, or local water supplies.

Roberts Vaux High School in North Philadelphia was evacuated Thursday afternoon after reports of a gas odor, authorities said. Firefighters were dispatched at 3:05 p.m. to the school, which is located at 2300 W. Master St., said Executive Fire Chief Richard Davison. The school was evacuated, but firefighters did not detect any gas leak. PGW workers were investigating the incident. Two school employees were taken to hospitals because they felt faint, said Fernando Gallard, spokesman for the Philadelphia School District.