ABSTRACT
Natural gas and LP-gas initiated fires and explosions take a serious toll on human beings and on property. To avert such accidents, suppliers of gas have long relied upon odor to warn of impending danger. The system, rooted in measurements in the early 20th century, has changed little in modern times. The odorants themselves have limitations, as does the recipient of this "warning." Under conditions of an explosion, the warning odorant should behave like a fire alarm and drive the person with a normal sense of smell from the space. Even when effective, the odorants do not seem to have that specific effect. The situation only magnifies vulnerability for those many people who have impaired olfaction. Some accidents occur because some consumers miss the odor and some because consumers "negotiate" with themselves about what the odor means. Both the nature of the accidents that occur and field studies indicate that the gas odor leaves much work to be done by other means of communication in order to diminish the threat of gas fires and explosions.
