Olf (unit)


The olf is a unit used to measure the strength of a pollution source. It was introduced by Danish professor P. Ole Fanger; the name "olf" is derived from the Latin word olfactus, meaning "smelled".
One olf is the sensory pollution strength from a standard person defined as an average adult working in an office or similar non-industrial workplace, sedentary and in thermal comfort, with a hygienic standard equivalent of 0.7 baths per day and whose skin has a total area of 1.8 square metres. It was defined to quantify the strength of pollution sources which can be perceived by humans.
The perceived air quality is measured in decipol.

Examples of typical scent emissions

Person/objectScent emission
Sitting person1 olf
Athlete30 olf
Marble0.01 olf/m²
Linoleum0.2 olf/m²
Synthetic fibre0.4 olf/m²
Rubber gasket0.6 olf/m²