Toilet Smells Affect Your Rail Crews

Smells from onboard rail toilets can reduce rail crew morale. Using toilet chemicals that include a pine oil fragrance can improve moral and concentration.

©iStockphoto.com/Eddy Lund

“A study conducted by Wheeling Jesuit University and commissioned by AroMetrics, revealed that “drivers were more alert and experienced less fatigue when the scent of pine was added to the car interior. The study also revealed that drivers demonstrated a decreased level of anger and improved overall driving performance when exposed to strawberry and pine scents”

According to a BNSF safety briefing, railroad crews "have legitimate concerns about the systems used for toilets on board locomotives" – especially the effects of odors which emanate from the on-board chemical retention and recirculating toilets.

Toilet odors unpleasant, but not toxic
Often rail crew toilets are serviced when the locomotive is serviced – meaning the locomotive can run for weeks before it goes in for maintenance. During this time, wastes in the holding tank build up and can overpower the chemicals used to break down the material. This is especially the case in southern and southwestern U.S. states where intense temperatures can cause bacteria to increase faster than the toilet chemicals can process.

As a result, bacteria multiply, producing methane gas which smells like rotten eggs.

Although this odor is incredibly unpleasant for rail crews, it's not toxic.

Eliminating the problem is fairly straight-forward: rail crews can add more chemical deodorant to the holding tank or toilet system or they can use a long-lasting, industrial strength toilet chemical designed for irregular locomotive servicing schedules.

Keeping a locomotive cab smelling fresh and odor free not only eliminates the stomach-churning smell of holding tanks gone bad – it also improves employee morale and concentration.

How smell affects people
The Smell Report, published by the Social Issues Research Center in the U.K., states that humans have over 5 million olfactory receptors. In comparison, dogs have over 220 million. As any dog owner can tell you, humans' sense of smell is nothing compared to dogs, yet our sense of smell is more important than many people realize.

Recent research suggests that the human brain "may be more adept at distinguishing smells than previously thought," according to a Science Daily article. Research conducted by Leslie Kay, Assistant Professor in Psychology at the University of Chicago demonstrated the "importance of smell as a means for people to gather information about their environment."

You can test this yourself pretty easily by taking a walk in your neighborhood. What odors greet you as you walk past homes and what do these odors tell you? What emotions do you associate with them? How do you feel about unfamiliar or "foreign" cooking smells versus the smell of freshly mowed grass? What associations come into play when you smell something cooking on the grill or when you walk past someone's odoriferous trash cans? What do you smell if someone has a junker car sitting in the driveway – and is this smell pleasant or not?

How we perceive odors is subjective - and personal. Says Terry Molnar, executive director for the Sense of Smell Institute, a division of the Fragrance Foundation in New York, in a Denver Post article, "Good Smell, Bad Smell," "Smell is processed by the part of the brain that handles emotions. It is a matter of association."

The smell of rosemary, for example, can evoke a warm, bucolic summer day in the garden . . . or a dining experience where a relationship breakup occurred over rosemary-scented chicken.

The junker car sitting in the driveway that smells of grease and oil can excite a car enthusiast who restores cars for a hobby . . . or it make a neighbor angry who perceives his property value declining.

In a recently publicized kerfluffle, Bob Dylan's Malibu, California neighbors noisily complained about the smelly porta potty on Dylan's property that wafted fumes over to their high-priced properties. The problem was that the cool ocean breezes – which in the past had held associations of peace and contentment – had now become an obnoxious irritant that detracted from people's quality of life.

It works the same for rail crews who must deal with locomotive toilets that produce unpleasant odors: what may seem a minor inconvenience to some who don't have to sit in the locomotive cab for hours on end can become a powerful negative emotion for others. Crews can build bad memories and associations due to intense smells in the cab – lowering concentration and a positive outlook toward one's job and employer.

Air fresheners only mask odor problems
U.S. consumers spend billions of dollars on home fragrance products, according to the Denver Post article, "Good Smell, Bad Smell." However, these fresheners don't remove odors – they mask them. Air fresheners lay odor on top of odor, which can sometimes result in even worse odors as the brain detects the fragrance and the odor it's supposed to be masking.

Many portable toilet deodorizers use a sweet-smelling scent to combat odor; however, instead of eliminating the odor, these products simply mask them.

So, if smell is subjective and many air fresheners simply mask odors, which fragrance is best for eliminating odors – especially in locomotive cabs? In one word: pine. Pine oil, a natural and non-toxic substance, is used in many products to help eliminate odors, including animal litters and cleaning products.

©iStockphoto.com/Lev Ezhov

Pine fragrance improves people's moods
A study conducted by Wheeling Jesuit University and commissioned by AroMetrics, revealed that "drivers were more alert and experienced less fatigue when the scent of pine was added to the car interior. The study also revealed that drivers demonstrated a decreased level of anger and improved overall driving performance when exposed to strawberry and pine scents."

Sums up the Sense of Smell Institute about the study, "The results of this study are consistent with previous independent research in olfaction and aroma-chology, some of which was funded by the Sense of Smell Institute, that has consistently demonstrated pleasant scents can elevate mood, enhance quality of life, and improve performance."

Toilet deodorizers, such as Inca Gold's, which incorporates both pine fragrance and pine oil, eliminate unpleasant odors in the locomotive cab due to on-board toilets. Inca Gold's toilet deodorizers are formulated to withstand the long periods of time between toilet servicing and they provide a clean, fresh scent that isn't sweet or cloying.

Available in convenient packages that crews can carry in their bags, Inca Gold toilet chemicals are safe, effective and priced right. It's why Inca Gold is the toilet deodorant rail crews demand most.