Comparison of olfactometry, gas chromatography, and electronic nose technology for measurement of indoor air from swine facilities.

Indoor air from swine finishing facilities was analyzed by olfactometry, gas chromatography (GC), and an electronic nose. Olfactometry used dynamic dilution triangular forced-choice. Air samples collected in Tedlar bags were analyzed using an AromaScan A32S electronic nose. Sixteen compounds, primarily nonsulfur protein metabolites were quantified by GC/mass spectrometry (MS) and an equation was generated to predict odor dilution threshold (R2 < .3). Electronic nose evaluation of room air samples was not strongly correlated to olfactometry measures (r < .2). However, the equation developed from the GC/MS analyses was capable of predicting the electronic nose response to air samples (R2 > .8).\nThe results suggest that human panelist responses may be based on detection of compounds that were not included in GC/MS quantification procedures and are not well detected by the electronic nose.