(orchestra music)
- Hey there Brain Stuff gang.
I'm Cristen and have you ever
been to the gas station before
filling up your jalopy when
suddenly your nostril hairs
twinge with an aromatic burning sensation?
I'm talking about gasoline people.
Why does it smell so freaking delicious?
Well the first answer is
pretty simple actually.
Gasoline or petro as our
friends across the pond call it,
contains a chemical
hydrocarbon called benzene
used to boost its octane rating.
Benzene naturally has a sweet scent to it
that our noses are
especially sensitive to.
It's so pungent, we can get a whiff of it
if there's only one part per million
in the air we breathe.
In fact, it evaporates so quickly,
that you'd smell benzene instantly
if you put some in a dish
you're in the same room with.
And benzene's not just in gasoline.
We use it in plastics,
pesticides and detergents
and it's also in a lot
of mass produced toys.
So it's possible you're
associating the smell of gasoline
with that new toy smell
from your childhood.
But don't let its odor
get its enchanting hooks
in you too far because
the smell of benzene
can be euphoric, but it's also toxic
if you inhale large amounts of it.
It can actually attack
your nervous system.
Luckily, it's so pungent that
we have plenty of warning
before hazardous exposure.
That's why it can start
to make you nauseous
or give you a headache after awhile.
And the consequences of sniffing
too much benzene gasoline
are not pretty.
But get this, there's possibly
another less dangerous reason
why we like the smell of gasoline so much.
A study published in a 2009
issue of addiction research
and theory, indicates that
gasoline smells better
when we're hungry.
It found that people rate
the smell of gasoline
as being more pleasant and intense
the longer it had been
since they had last eaten.
More research is obviously required,
but there seems to be a link
between our degree of hunger
and our odor perception of gasoline.
Maybe that's why gas
stations make such a killing
on selling junk food.
So what other weird odors do
you find curiously enjoyable?
Skunks, swimming pools, your own farts?
Let us know in the comments below
and before you leave, I
want you to get real close
to the subscribe and like buttons.
What do they smell like?
Push them and find out.
