What’s that smell? Smoke from Canadian wildfires emitting particular scent

If you can’t quite place the smell in the air, don’t worry. It’s not your traditional “camp fire” smell, and there is a reason.

The Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes and Energy put out an explainer Wednesday as to why the smell most of us are detecting is a more sweet or metallic smell. It has to do with the Volatile Organic Compounds released from the smoke.

See photos from across Western Pennsylvania

Isoprenoids are compounds released when vegetation burns. Those compounds produce what we think of as a wood-burning smell or “campfire” smell. Well, those compounds break down quickly when exposed to UV radiation from the sun. Hence, the scent doesn’t travel too far.

What does carry a distance are volatile organic compounds like Benzene, Formaldehyde and Acrolein which all have a more pungent, sweet or metallic smell. That is what most of us have been smelling when stepping outside the last couple of days. Benzene is particularly dangerous, with long-term exposure, which is one of the many reasons we are encouraging you to stay inside while the air quality is so bad.

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