WEBVTT - BrainStuff Classics: Why Does Gasoline Smell So Good?

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<v Speaker 1>Welcome to brain Stuff from How Stuff Works. Hey, brain Stuff,

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<v Speaker 1>I'm Lauren Vogelbaum, and today's episode is a classic from

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<v Speaker 1>our erstwhile host, Christian Sagar. This one was a script

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<v Speaker 1>in our old YouTube days, and we found that it

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<v Speaker 1>was one of our most controversial Why does gasoline smell

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<v Speaker 1>so good? For those of you thinking what gasoline smells gross,

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<v Speaker 1>just believe us. For some folks, it smells delicious. Hey,

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<v Speaker 1>they're brain Stuff gang. I'm Christian Sagar, and have you

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<v Speaker 1>ever been to the gas station before filling up your

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<v Speaker 1>gelope when suddenly your nostril hairs twinged with an aromatic

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<v Speaker 1>burning sensation. It's like the wise sages of Leonard skinnerd

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<v Speaker 1>once saying, oh that smell. Can't you smell that smell?

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<v Speaker 1>I'm talking about gasoline, people, Why does it smell so good? Well?

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<v Speaker 1>The first answer is pretty simple. Actually, gasoline or petrol

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<v Speaker 1>as our friends across the pond like to call it,

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<v Speaker 1>contains a chemical hydrocarbon called benzene used to boost its

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<v Speaker 1>octane rating, and benzine naturally has a sweet scent to

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<v Speaker 1>it that our noses are specially sensitive to. In fact,

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<v Speaker 1>it evaporates so quickly that you'd smell benzene instantly if

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<v Speaker 1>you just put some in a dish in the same

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<v Speaker 1>room you're in. It is so pungent we can get

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<v Speaker 1>a whiff of it if there's only one to five

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<v Speaker 1>parts per million in the air we breathe. And benzine

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<v Speaker 1>is not just in gasoline. We use it in plastics, pesticides,

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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<v Speaker 1>after a while, and the consequences of sniffing too much

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

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

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

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<v Speaker 1>at 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>Today's episode was written by Christian and produced by Tyler Klang.

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<v Speaker 1>For more on this and lots of other topics, visit

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<v Speaker 1>our home planet How Stuff Works Dot com