Air fresheners having sensorial deodorizing power with scent have excellent immediate effects on the tobacco odor that permeates a room, and they are used extensively in settings from offices to households. It is not true that substances responsible for tobacco odor are reduced by the sensorial deodorization effect. Therefore, it is difficult to measure by analysis using devices such as odor sensors and gas chromatography–mass spectrometry (GC-MS), and it is often evaluated by olfactory measurement using human olfaction.
However, it is difficult to evaluate the sensorial deodorization effect in the actual room. The disturbance of airflow occurs by the entry of the evaluator into the center of the room or by suction of the pump, and it is therefore difficult to conduct a comparative study, because reproducibility cannot be maintained. Furthermore, because it is not possible to evaluate over time, it is easy to assume that it is difficult to conduct the study under harsh conditions in which unpleasant odors permeate the room most. On the contrary, if we can figure out how the tobacco odor and scent of air fresheners spread in the room, evaluation under the same circumstances is possible by reproducing the conditions.
Therefore, this study was conducted to reveal the following four endpoints to investigate the sensorial deodorization effect under conditions that simulate the actual space. This was done by determining the distribution of tobacco odor extensively hanging over a room and the scent generated from air fresheners based on the results of CFD analysis and evaluating the sensorial deodorizing ability under these conditions.
1. Design of the test system that simulates the actual space using the results of CFD analysis
CFD analysis was performed on the distribution of acetaldehyde that permeates the room when tobacco is burned and of the scent generated from air fresheners. With this as a case study, tobacco odor for which the dilution ratio was adjusted to maintain the same strength with the odor strength of acetaldehyde and each of three different air fresheners were combined, and “nine-point hedonic scale” and “tolerability” were evaluated in 27 subjects with no olfactory abnormality.
2. Investigation of sensorial deodorization effects of the scent generated from air fresheners on tobacco odor
There were significant differences among the effects of making an unpleasant tobacco odor smell pleasant in the presence of air fresheners. This indicates that the samples used in this study have sensorial deodorization effects.
3. Investigation of differences in sensorial deodorization effects of air fresheners with different scents
When samples of air fresheners were compared, as there was a significant difference in improvement of pleasantness/unpleasantness, it was revealed that some scents of air fresheners have higher sensorial deodorization effects that make unpleasant tobacco odor smell pleasant.
4. Investigation of the validity of this study method
The method suggested in this study showed the same tendency as the results of evaluation by the conventional method. Therefore, the method may be utilized for research on the air sensorial deodorization effects of air fresheners under conditions that simulate the actual space, and it is considered possible to evaluate the difference in the effects of air fresheners with scent.
