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".^[1]

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.^[1]

Examples of typical scent emissions

Person/object	Scent emission
Sitting person	1 olf
Heavy smoker	25 olf
Athlete	30 olf
Marble	0.01 olf/m²
Linoleum	0.2 olf/m²
Synthetic fibre	0.4 olf/m²
Rubber gasket	0.6 olf/m²

See also

• Sick building syndrome

References

1. ^ ^{a b} Fanger, O. P.: Introduction of the Olf and the Decipol Units to Quantify Air Pollution Perceived by Humans Indoors. In: Energy and Buildings. 12, 1988, 1-6

• Professor Ole Fanger's page at the Technical University of Denmark, includes curriculum vitae mentioning him proposing the unit called olf.