China trains “professional noses” to sniff out pollution

MIKE CLARKE/AFP

For years, dogs have been used to sniff for illegal drugs. Now, in China, humans are soon going to be used as “professional noses” to sniff for illegal emissions while patrolling the southern city of Guangzhou. The noses have been trained by environmental experts to differentiate between hundreds of odors and gauge their threat to human health. Unsurprisingly, a member of the sniffing team has described the work as “quite unpleasant.”

The sniffers expect to receive certificates that will officially let them commence their careers as professional noses. The certificates will be valid for just three years, though, because humans’ olfactory capabilities tend to decline with age.

The noses should be careful. Earlier this year, two sniffer dogs in Malaysia received death threats from crime bosses after authorities used them to help locate pirated DVDs and CDs (the canines sniffed for polycarbonates used in manufacturing disks). So when it comes to illegal polluters, who nose what could happen?