Absence of metal smells
2007/01/01 Elhuyar Zientzia Iturria: Elhuyar aldizkaria
When coming into contact with certain metals, the hands acquire a particular smell of metal. Some German chemists have investigated this odor and have come to the conclusion that the odor taken by their hands is not of metal, but of their own.
Some compounds present in the sweat of the hands react with impurities very common in metals, resulting in volatile molecules, organophosphates. These molecules are responsible for the smell.
To reach this conclusion, the German team was assisted by a laboratory in Virginia. The Virginia was studying why sometimes the metal flavor is noticeable when drinking water. In the case of the taste of water, the explanation was similar, that is, it is possible that the organic particles of food react with the water oxide and hence the water takes the flavor that we unite with the metal.
The adaptation to the metal of that smell or taste that is perceived is nothing more than the influence of the sensory imagination, something that we do by association.
