GC-MS/O for the characterization of odours from cheese-production wastewater: A case study.

The foul odour of cheese-production wastewater is a common problem in areas surrounding dairy wastewater treatment plants. For successful odour management, a better understanding of the key odorants and how to handle them during wastewater treatment is needed. This paper documents the results of using gas chromatography-mass spectrometry coupled with olfactometry (GC-MS/O) to analyze odours emanating from a possibly overloaded treatment plant in Czechia. Using a DB5 capillary column, 20 compounds were detected and identified, nonanal (FDgeomean 152) and octen-3-ol (FDgeomean 2048) having the most pungent odours.