Indoor air from swine finishing facilities was analyzed by olfactometry, gas chromatography (GC), and an electronic nose. Olfactometry used dynamic dilution triangular forced-choice. Air samples collected in Tedlar bags were analyzed using an AromaScan A32S electronic nose. Sixteen compounds, primarily nonsulfur protein metabolites were quantified by GC/mass spectrometry (MS) and an equation was generated to predict odor dilution threshold (R² < .3). Electronic nose evaluation of room air samples was not strongly correlated to olfactometry measures (r < .2). However, the equation developed from the GC/MS analyses was capable of predicting the electronic nose response to air samples (R² > .8).

The results suggest that human panelist responses may be based on detection of compounds that were not included in GC/MS quantification procedures and are not well detected by the electronic nose.