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Fecal Malodor Detection Using Low-Cost Electrochemical Sensors.

Publication ,  Journal Article
Kawadiya, S; Welling, C; Grego, S; Deshusses, MA
Published in: Sensors (Basel, Switzerland)
May 2020

Technology innovation in sanitation is needed for the 4.2 billion people worldwide, lacking safely managed sanitation services. A major requirement for the adoption of these technologies is the management of malodor around toilet and treatment systems. There is an unmet need for a low-cost instrumented technology for detecting the onset of sanitation malodor and triggering corrective actions. This study combines sensory data with low-cost gas sensor data on malodor emanating from feces. The response of 10 commercial electrochemical gas sensors was collected alongside olfactometric measurements. Odor from fecal specimens at different relevant dilution as well as specimens with pleasant odors as a control were evaluated for a total of 64 responses. Several of the sensors responded positively to the fecal odor, with the formaldehyde, hydrogen sulfide, and ammonia sensors featuring the highest signal to noise ratio. A positive trend was observed between the sensors' responses and the concentration of the odorant and with odor intensity, but no clear correspondence with dilution to threshold (D/T) values was found. Selected sensors were responsive both above and below the intensity values used as the cutoff for offensive odor, suggesting the possibility of using those sensors to differentiate odor offensiveness based just on the magnitude of their response. The specificity of the sensors suggested that discrimination between the selected non-fecal and fecal odors was possible. This study demonstrates that some of the evaluated sensors could be used to assemble a low-cost malodor warning system.

Duke Scholars

Published In

Sensors (Basel, Switzerland)

DOI

EISSN

1424-8220

ISSN

1424-8220

Publication Date

May 2020

Volume

20

Issue

10

Start / End Page

E2888

Related Subject Headings

  • Sanitation
  • Odorants
  • Hydrogen Sulfide
  • Humans
  • Feces
  • Electrochemical Techniques
  • Analytical Chemistry
  • Ammonia
  • 4606 Distributed computing and systems software
  • 4104 Environmental management
 

Citation

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Kawadiya, S., Welling, C., Grego, S., & Deshusses, M. A. (2020). Fecal Malodor Detection Using Low-Cost Electrochemical Sensors. Sensors (Basel, Switzerland), 20(10), E2888. https://doi.org/10.3390/s20102888
Kawadiya, Siddharth, Claire Welling, Sonia Grego, and Marc A. Deshusses. “Fecal Malodor Detection Using Low-Cost Electrochemical Sensors.Sensors (Basel, Switzerland) 20, no. 10 (May 2020): E2888. https://doi.org/10.3390/s20102888.
Kawadiya S, Welling C, Grego S, Deshusses MA. Fecal Malodor Detection Using Low-Cost Electrochemical Sensors. Sensors (Basel, Switzerland). 2020 May;20(10):E2888.
Kawadiya, Siddharth, et al. “Fecal Malodor Detection Using Low-Cost Electrochemical Sensors.Sensors (Basel, Switzerland), vol. 20, no. 10, May 2020, p. E2888. Epmc, doi:10.3390/s20102888.
Kawadiya S, Welling C, Grego S, Deshusses MA. Fecal Malodor Detection Using Low-Cost Electrochemical Sensors. Sensors (Basel, Switzerland). 2020 May;20(10):E2888.

Published In

Sensors (Basel, Switzerland)

DOI

EISSN

1424-8220

ISSN

1424-8220

Publication Date

May 2020

Volume

20

Issue

10

Start / End Page

E2888

Related Subject Headings

  • Sanitation
  • Odorants
  • Hydrogen Sulfide
  • Humans
  • Feces
  • Electrochemical Techniques
  • Analytical Chemistry
  • Ammonia
  • 4606 Distributed computing and systems software
  • 4104 Environmental management