What’s that smell?

November 10, 2025 • Health and Safety Articles • 4 minutes to read

November 10, 2025 Health and Safety Articles 4 minutes to read

Tackling odors and invisible hazards at work

By Dorothy Wigmore and Derek Shendell

Something stinks when you walk into school or your classroom, get on the school bus or go into a gym. Something in the washroom air makes your nose twinge. The person next you must be using a perfume or cologne, or an “air freshener” is plugged in.

Well, maybe it’s just a smell—an odor—you notice. Your eyes, nose or throat may start itching or a headache may occur.

People have different thresholds for what they can smell, from nothing to almost everything. You may be the only person to notice. Or you may be one of those people who cannot smell anything but still react to something in the air.

It’s important to pay attention to these reactions or symptoms. They may be caused by an airborne hazard.

What are common sources?

In school settings, odors can come from outside or inside buildings or buses. Besides body odors (e.g., in high-density situations, after recess or physical activity), sources include:

3-D printers
“Air fresheners,” including bathroom urinal deodorizers
Cleaning, sanitizing and disinfecting products
Construction or renovation materials
Exhaust from diesel and other vehicles (especially idling vehicles)
Lab or other chemicals used in classes, shops, etc.
Moisture-damaged materials (e.g., ceiling tiles) with or without visible mold, mildew or fungi
Personal care products (e.g., perfume, cologne, deodorant, skin care), including those in cosmetology classes (e.g., hairsprays)
Sewage or sewer gases
Smoking or vaping

The invisible vapors and small particles (aerosols) from these sources can spread in the air of a classroom, lab, office, or shop, and beyond. They can enter a space through open doors and windows or through mechanical ventilation (HVAC) systems, even with filtration of larger particles and dust.

Odors or smells are often considered unpleasant anywhere. But just because you can smell something doesn’t mean it will cause immediate or long-term harm. Likewise, just because you can’t smell something (e.g., carbon monoxide, radon) doesn’t mean everything is okay.

For example, fragrances and perfumes are natural or synthetic substances intended to deliver a scent users consider pleasant or to mask an odor. Manufactured ones may include hundreds of individual chemicals simply labelled “fragrance.” Too often, their names don’t appear on safety data sheets or are just called “trade secrets.”

Even worse, there is “minimal or no hazard data” for more than half the approximately 3,000 chemicals on the International Fragrance Association’s Transparency List, according to a recent 2025 Campaign for Safe Cosmetics report. For chemicals with data, most can harm people and/or the environment. Reported effects include skin or eye irritation, endocrine disruption (which can lead to multiple health effects), reproductive harm and cancers.

Other things can also be harmful. For some, ”clean” equals a “nice smell,” but pine or lemon scents usually come from harmful chemicals associated with asthma and other short-and long-term health effects. For more information, visit njea.org/cleaning-to-fight-covid-19-in-schools-and-at-home.

There are other sources. Vaping and cigarettes still are used in and around schools, despite smoke detectors. Roof tarring may be noticed, especially if it is done near HVAC air intakes. It also can get complicated when chemicals used indoors react with other substances in the air and/or on surfaces to form hazards.

What prevents or reduces odors?

The best way to deal with any hazard is to eliminate it. Schools often have scent- or fragrance-free policies. These also protect those who are very sensitive to chemicals. There are non-toxic cleaning solutions. Asking “Is it necessary?” and taking inventory can lead to fewer and different chemicals or products.

The next best solution is fresh and filtered air. Inspect and check the HVAC system. Consider DIY or stand-alone filters for airborne particles and aerosols, including viruses. Ensure activated carbon filters are used to remove gases and vapors.

New Jersey’s unique Indoor Air Quality Standard applies to schools. (See the NJEA Health and Safety Manual for guidance on using it.) Districts must have a trained “designated person” responsible for implementation and responding to concerns.

Each year, The New Jersey Association of Designated Persons (NJADP), New Jersey Public Employees Occupational Safety and Health (PEOSH) and Rutgers School of Public Health’s Safe Schools Program offer a $25 indoor air and environmental quality workshop for schools and administrative offices. Workshops are held once a month at 10 locations.

What can health and safety committees do?

To identify indoor and outdoor airborne hazards:

Inventory the chemicals (including product ingredients) used in the building(s) and check safety data sheets for their hazards, as part of walk-throughs or inspections (see njea.org/whats-in-that-stuff).
Ask members what’s affecting them, using body maps, lunch discussions, surveys or the NJEA Health and Safety Manual.
Work with the designated person to check ventilation systems and assess air quality (using monitors for carbon dioxide, an indicator of fresh air and airborne particles).
Collate the information on a workplace map by visiting njea.org/maps-reveal-the-invisible.

Use the maps and other information to decide priorities, investigate solutions and advocate for healthy air. In the process, work for solutions including:

Scent- or fragrance-free policies
Purchase and use of non-toxic and less-toxic chemicals and materials
Air filters

Dorothy Wigmore is a long-time health and safety specialist and WEC consultant. She has worked in Canada, the U.S. and Mozambique, focusing on prevention and worker participation to fix job-related hazards.

Derek G. Shendell, D.Env., MPH, is a professor at Rutgers School of Public Health and director of the New Jersey Safe Schools Program. He teaches and trains undergraduate and graduate students and K-12 staff on indoor air and environmental quality, drawing on 25 years of research and practical experience.