Olf (unit)

The olf is a unit used to measure the strength of a pollution source. It was introduced by Danish professor P. Ole Fanger; the name "olf" is derived from the Latin word olfactus, meaning "smelled".^[1]

One olf is the sensory pollution strength from a standard person defined as an average adult working in an office or similar non-industrial workplace, sedentary and in thermal comfort, with a hygienic standard equivalent of 0.7 baths per day and whose skin has a total area of 1.8 square metres. It was defined to quantify the strength of pollution sources that can be perceived by humans.

The perceived air quality is measured in decipol.^[1]

Examples of typical scent emissions[]

^{[citation needed]}

See also[]

• Sick building syndrome

References[]

• Professor Ole Fanger's page at the Technical University of Denmark, includes curriculum vitae mentioning him proposing the unit called olf.^{[dead link]}