How do odor eliminating sprays work?

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SOLVED: Some sprays claim they eliminate odors rather than mask them. Is there really a distinction that these products have, and how does it work?

In: Chemistry

3 Answers

Anonymous 0 Comments

We sense smells by specialized cells in our noses that react to molecules interacting with said cells, and different molecules trigger different smells.

Some sprays contain chemicals (enzymes) that help break down molecules into other molecules that may either smell less or not at all.

Anonymous 0 Comments

And does ozone work in the same way…..????

Anonymous 0 Comments

This is actually a really interesting topic! First, you have to know what smelling is. Basically, things that “smell give off little parts of themselves that float around in the air. If one of the particles goes up your nose, it connects with olfactory (smell) receptors in your nose which send a message that your brain interprets as a smell.

Now, the difference between odor masking vs odor eliminating. Odor masking is basically just putting another, stronger smell over the bad smell to try to block it out. But odor eliminating is way cooler. Scientists found a group of molecules called cyclodextrins which look like molecular donuts: they form a ring with a hole in the middle. The ring is constructed in such a way that odor-causing molecules get trapped in the middle of the donut and can’t get out. When it gets trapped, it can no longer interact with the receptors in your nose and your can no longer smell the offending stench. This is what Febreze uses to eliminate smells. The real trick then is to find good-smelling molecules to add to their product that won’t get trapped by the cyclodextrins!

Here’s some more information that isn’t exactly ELI5 but illustrates how cyclodextrins work. https://helix.northwestern.edu/blog/2015/06/take-whiff-chemistry