WEBVTT - Why Does Gasoline Smell So Good?

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<v Speaker 1>Hi. I'm Holly Fry and I'm Tracy V. Wilson, and

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<v Speaker 1>from how Stuff Works. Hey there, brain stuff gang. I'm

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<v Speaker 1>Christian Seger, and have you ever been to the gas

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<v Speaker 1>station before filling up your gelope when suddenly your nostril

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<v Speaker 1>hairs twings with an aromatic burning sensation. It's like the

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<v Speaker 1>wise sages of Leonard Skinner'd once saying, oh that smell.

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<v Speaker 1>Can't you smell that smell? I'm talking about gasoline, people,

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<v Speaker 1>Why does it smell so good? Well, the first answer

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<v Speaker 1>is pretty simple. Actually, gasoline or petrol, as our friends

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<v Speaker 1>across the pond like to call it, contains a chemical

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<v Speaker 1>hydrocarbon called benzene used to boost its octane rating, and

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<v Speaker 1>benzine naturally has a sweet scent to it that our

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<v Speaker 1>noses are specially sensitive to. In fact, it evaporates so

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<v Speaker 1>quickly that you'd smell benzene instantly if you just put

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<v Speaker 1>some in a dish in the same room you're in.

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<v Speaker 1>It is so pungent we can get a whiff of

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<v Speaker 1>it if there's only one to five parts per million

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<v Speaker 1>in the air we breathe. And benzine is not just

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<v Speaker 1>in gasoline. We use it in plastics, pesticides, and detergents.

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<v Speaker 1>It's also in a lot of mass produced toys, so

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<v Speaker 1>it's possible you're associating the smell of gasoline with that

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<v Speaker 1>new toys smell from your childhood. But don't let it

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<v Speaker 1>odor get its enchanting hooks and you too far. Because

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<v Speaker 1>skinnerd also had it right when they saying, oh, that smell,

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<v Speaker 1>the smell of death surrounds you. That's right. The smell

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<v Speaker 1>of benzine can be euphoric, but it's also toxic. If

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<v Speaker 1>you inhale large amounts of it, it actually attacks your

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<v Speaker 1>nervous system. Luckily, it's so pungent that we have plenty

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<v Speaker 1>of warning before hazardous exposure. That's why it can start

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<v Speaker 1>to make you nauseous or give you a headache after

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<v Speaker 1>a while. And the consequences of sniffing too much. Benzine

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<v Speaker 1>and gasoline are not pretty. Inhalent abuse leads to loss

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<v Speaker 1>of consciousness, seizures, liver injury, and distress within your heart

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<v Speaker 1>and lungs. Keep going after that and you're looking at

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<v Speaker 1>neurological impairment and straight up brain damage. The E. P. A.

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<v Speaker 1>Osha and Who also categorized benzine as a carcinogen. The

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<v Speaker 1>cancers it's associated with the most are leukemia and lymphoma.

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<v Speaker 1>And get this, there's possibly another, less dangerous reason why

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<v Speaker 1>we like the smell of gasoline so much. A study

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<v Speaker 1>published in two thousand nine issue of Addiction Research and

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<v Speaker 1>Theory indicates that gasoline smells better to us when we're hungry.

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<v Speaker 1>It found that people rate the smell of gasoline as

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<v Speaker 1>being more pleasant and intense the longer it had been

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<v Speaker 1>since they had last eaten. More research is obviously required,

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<v Speaker 1>but there seems to be a link between our degree

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<v Speaker 1>of hunger and our odor perception of gasoline. Maybe that's

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<v Speaker 1>why gas stations make such a killing on selling junk food.

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<v Speaker 1>Check out the brain stuff channel on YouTube, and for

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