Recent developments in odour modelling and assessment in five provinces in Austria

It can safely be stated that odour assessment is amongst the least harmonised environmental issues within the European Union. Even on a national level, local authorities sometimes use different approaches. In an effort to harmonise odour assessment in Austria, five provinces—Styria, Salzburg, Carinthia, Burgenland and Vorarlberg—issued a new guideline setting thresholds for odour hour frequencies dependent on the annoyance potential. The limit values were derived from examinations of complaint rates by neighbours of various odour sources and existing exposure–response relationships published in literature. For odours, where no such relationships were available, comprehensive tests using the polarity profile method have been carried out. Unfortunately, the polarity profile method did not provide useful results. Moreover, the corresponding modelling technique for odour hours has been improved, too. Furthermore, odour emission factors from animal husbandry have been investigated by olfactometric measurements and finally been updated, because the emission factors listed in the comprehensive German guideline VDI3894-1 seem not to be representative at least for Austrian conditions.