Odour

Building a new profession in odour management

Managing odour nusiance

Odour professionals work to understand, assess, and manage odours in various environments. This includes monitoring, measuring, and mitigating odours from natural and human-made sources to improve air quality and community wellbeing. Their work involves identifying odour sources, evaluating their impacts, and implementing strategies or technologies to control and reduce unwanted and nuisance odours, ensuring compliance with regulations and enhancing environmental and social outcomes.

The home for odour professionals

Odour is often tied to air quality, and many odour professionals work across both fields. The IES is the home of the Institute of Air Quality Management (IAQM), the professional body for air quality professionals. Through the IAQM, we publish the Guidance on the assessment of odour for planning, and run events with our Early Careers Networks on odour.