Odorant

Odorants are chemical additives that are mixed with orderless gases to give a smell as a safety precaution.

The government requires natural gas to be odorized as a safety measure since it is combustible and odorless.  An odorant is a harmless gas called mercaptan is added to natural gas to make it smell like rotten eggs (or sulfur). Gas leaks can’t be detected by smoke alarms and carbon monoxide alarms, so the added odorants are deliberately distinctive and unpleasant so that the presence of gas can be smelled and identified.

mobile ladder odorant facility
RollaStep mobile ladder unit at an Arkema odorant facility in Pineville, LA.