# Do you know the smell of fresh blood? **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [March 10, 2011, 11:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-know-the-smell-of-fresh-blood/574155 "2011-03-10T11:27:04Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Derleth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Derleth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Derleth)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2011, 7:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-know-the-smell-of-fresh-blood/574155/21 "2011-03-11T07:34:06Z")
It smells (and tastes) a lot like copper. Honestly, though, how many people _don’t_ know what blood smells and tastes like? We all get injured, right? We all lost teeth as children, I’m sure. A whole lot of us have to deal with injured people and animals, if only on an informal basis. Anyway, the interesting thing is noticing when other things smell and taste like blood. The last time that happened to me was when I handled a really coppery rock. One whiff and I immediately thought of blood. ---
**Author:** ![Stoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/stoid/32/272_2.png) [@Stoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stoid)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2011, 6:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-know-the-smell-of-fresh-blood/574155/22 "2011-03-11T18:45:44Z")
Do we have a lot of copper in our blood, if any? Or is that smell we identify with pennies and copper actually iron? ---
**Author:** ![Omar\_Little](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/omar_little/32/269_2.png) [@Omar\_Little](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Omar_Little)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2011, 9:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-know-the-smell-of-fresh-blood/574155/23 "2011-03-11T21:51:39Z")
> [@horsetech](#): > > Hemorrhagic diarrhea from fulminant colitis is the worst I thought you could only smell that at the Hotel California. ---
**Author:** ![Inigo\_Montoya](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/inigo_montoya/32/124_2.png) [@Inigo\_Montoya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Inigo_Montoya)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2011, 10:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-know-the-smell-of-fresh-blood/574155/24 "2011-03-11T22:01:16Z")
> [@Omar\_Little](#): > > I thought you could only smell that at the Hotel California. Ok, now that’s funny! I remember when my brother wrecked his motorcycle. There was a lot of blood on hot pavement. I swear I could smell the alcohol evaporating out of it. I’ll never forget it. ---
**Author:** ![Derleth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Derleth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Derleth)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2011, 10:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-know-the-smell-of-fresh-blood/574155/25 "2011-03-11T22:09:39Z")
> [@Stoid](#): > > Do we have a lot of copper in our blood, if any? Or is that smell we identify with pennies and copper actually iron? Human blood contains very little copper. Our oxygen transport works based on iron, part of the hemoglobin molecule, which goes from dark red to light red in the presence of oxygen. If we were horseshoe crabs, say, or vampire squid, we’d have hemocyanin, which is both based on copper and is undeniably blue (as opposed to just looking blue in our veins through our skin based on how light bends). I don’t know how that adds up to human blood smelling and tasting so much like copper. ---
**Author:** ![WhyNot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c77e96/32.png) [@WhyNot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WhyNot)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2011, 10:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-know-the-smell-of-fresh-blood/574155/26 "2011-03-11T22:27:17Z")
> [@Stoid](#): > > Do we have a lot of copper in our blood, if any? Or is that smell we identify with pennies and copper actually iron? There is a copper containing compound in our blood, called ceruloplasmin. It doesn’t contain a whole lot of copper, but yes, we use copper in our blood. But I’m pretty sure pennies don’t contain a whole lot of copper anymore, do they? This has always puzzled me. Why does blood smell/taste like pennies, specifically? Not like nickles (which also contain copper) or quarters or a wrought iron fence (which would make sense if it was the iron in the hemoglobin we’re smelling) …but _pennies_. WTF? ---
**Author:** ![Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/qadgop_the_mercotan/32/83_2.png) [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qadgop_the_Mercotan)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2011, 11:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-know-the-smell-of-fresh-blood/574155/27 "2011-03-11T23:11:27Z")
> [@horsetech](#): > > Yup. I’ve smelled blood from surgery as well as blood from injuries. Hemorrhagic diarrhea from fulminant colitis is the worst - it is the smell of gut dying and sloughing, a mix of diarrhea + death + blood. Gangrenous bowel is worse than that, IMHO. Necrotic bowel is nasty, but necrotic bowel plus gangrene transcends feces + death + blood. ---
**Author:** ![user\_hostile](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/user_hostile/32/474_2.png) [@user\_hostile](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/user_hostile)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2011, 11:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-know-the-smell-of-fresh-blood/574155/28 "2011-03-11T23:40:49Z")
> [@WhyNot](#): > > There is a copper containing compound in our blood, called ceruloplasmin. It doesn’t contain a whole lot of copper, but yes, we use copper in our blood. > > But I’m pretty sure pennies don’t contain a whole lot of copper anymore, do they? This has always puzzled me. Why does blood smell/taste like pennies, specifically? Not like nickles (which also contain copper) or quarters or a wrought iron fence (which would make sense if it was the iron in the hemoglobin we’re smelling) …but _pennies_. WTF? So, then, what does Vulcan blood smell like? Rusty nails? ---
**Author:** ![SeaDragonTattoo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/df705f/32.png) [@SeaDragonTattoo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SeaDragonTattoo)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2011, 11:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-know-the-smell-of-fresh-blood/574155/29 "2011-03-11T23:46:37Z")
> [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](#): > > Gangrenous bowel is worse than that, IMHO. Necrotic bowel is nasty, but necrotic bowel plus gangrene transcends feces + death + blood. You win. For me, nothing like a splenectomy on a 150+ pound dog to get real familiar with the smell of blood. ---
**Author:** ![horsetech](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/dec6dc/32.png) [@horsetech](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/horsetech)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2011, 1:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-know-the-smell-of-fresh-blood/574155/30 "2011-03-12T01:32:18Z")
I guess I haven’t spent enough time in colic surgeries; I’ve seen a couple cases with purple to black gut, but it still didn’t smell as bad IMO as the ones with raging _Clostridium_ infections which were coating the walls with the smell of bloody death. It may have to do with proximity and ventilation in the surgery suite (very airy) vs isolation stalls (which tend to get stuffy and warm sometimes). YMMV, but I’ll take your word for it on the gangrene. I’ll take horses over people with rotting diabetic feet any day, though. ---
**Author:** ![Marc\_Xenos](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e9a140/32.png) [@Marc\_Xenos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marc_Xenos)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2011, 9:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-know-the-smell-of-fresh-blood/574155/31 "2011-03-12T21:32:53Z")
> [@user\_hostile](#): > > So, then, what does Vulcan blood smell like? Rusty nails? Couldn’t say. I’m not particularly fond of Scotch, nor liqueurs. I lean more toward Rum or Vodka. ---
**Author:** ![Marc\_Xenos](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e9a140/32.png) [@Marc\_Xenos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marc_Xenos)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2011, 9:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-know-the-smell-of-fresh-blood/574155/32 "2011-03-12T21:47:37Z")
> [@Stoid](#): > > I’m not going to go TMI on this, I’m just going to say that I have had reason in my life to come to know the smell of fresh blood. (not menstrual). It’s very distinctive, and it definitely has an iron component. > > Can you recognize it? I’ve noticed that certain smells are never forgotten. Years later, when you smell it, it’s instantly recognizable, and not intellectually, but almost like a shift in time, revisit to the first moment. And some smells are so distinctive that they’re not confused with anything else. ---
**Author:** ![Stoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/stoid/32/272_2.png) [@Stoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stoid)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2011, 10:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-know-the-smell-of-fresh-blood/574155/33 "2011-03-12T22:05:01Z")
> [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](#): > > Gangrenous bowel is worse than that, IMHO. Necrotic bowel is nasty, but necrotic bowel plus gangrene transcends feces + death + blood. Do you know of any medical students who had to bail because they couldn’t stop barfing at the vile effluvia that accompanies so much illness? It’s a serious question: we all know about the cliche of people who faint at the sight of blood, but what about the people who hurl at the scent of pus? And I really wish there was a less gakky word for pus…I have a visceral response to language and I need a euphemism… ---
**Author:** ![WhyNot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c77e96/32.png) [@WhyNot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WhyNot)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2011, 11:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-know-the-smell-of-fresh-blood/574155/34 "2011-03-12T23:25:29Z")
> [@Stoid](#): > > And I really wish there was a less gakky word for pus…I have a visceral response to language and I need a euphemism… “Purulent discharge.” What I’d like is an adjectival form of the word \*pus \*that can be used in writing without looking like the slang term for a female body part. Fill in the blank: The infected wound was swollen and \_\_\_\_\_\_\_. Works in speech, never in writing. ---
**Author:** ![Ms\_Boods](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/5e9695/32.png) [@Ms\_Boods](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ms_Boods)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2011, 11:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-know-the-smell-of-fresh-blood/574155/35 "2011-03-12T23:26:43Z")
This thread made me order up a rare steak from room service…they asked how did I want it done…still mooing, said I. Mmmm, fresh, bloody steak…‘I used to weep in butchers’ shops as a boy,’ said Uncle Monty. ---
**Author:** ![user\_hostile](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/user_hostile/32/474_2.png) [@user\_hostile](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/user_hostile)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2011, 12:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-know-the-smell-of-fresh-blood/574155/36 "2011-03-13T00:01:23Z")
> [@Marc\_Xenos](#): > > Couldn’t say. I’m not particularly fond of Scotch, nor liqueurs. I lean more toward Rum or Vodka. Fascinating! ---
**Author:** ![horsetech](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/dec6dc/32.png) [@horsetech](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/horsetech)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2011, 12:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-know-the-smell-of-fresh-blood/574155/37 "2011-03-13T00:37:16Z")
> [@WhyNot](#): > > “Purulent discharge.” > > What I’d like is an adjectival form of the word \*pus \*that can be used in writing without looking like the slang term for a female body part. Fill in the blank: The infected wound was swollen and \_\_\_\_\_\_\_. Works in speech, never in writing. Suppurative or purulent? Haven’t heard a professional use pus-sy except as a joke, just clients. Merriam-Webster on the use of [purulent](http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/purulent): > [@](#): > > 1: containing, consisting of, or being pus \ > 2: accompanied by suppuration And suppurate = to form or discharge pus. ---
**Author:** ![WhyNot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c77e96/32.png) [@WhyNot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WhyNot)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2011, 12:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-know-the-smell-of-fresh-blood/574155/38 "2011-03-13T00:49:56Z")
Oooh, suppurative is a superlative choice! 😉 I ran into the pus-sy problem in charting. My teacher wanted direct quotes (also known in nursing as “subjective data”), and the patient described her wound as, well…y’know. I was at a loss as to how to chart it accurately. :smack: ---
**Author:** ![LH75](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lh75/32/4438_2.png) [@LH75](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LH75)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2011, 1:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-know-the-smell-of-fresh-blood/574155/39 "2011-03-13T01:44:37Z")
Just before I found my present job, I spent some time running the tongue saw in a slaughter house. ---
**Author:** ![Ale](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/f19dbf/32.png) [@Ale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ale)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2011, 2:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-know-the-smell-of-fresh-blood/574155/40 "2011-03-13T02:19:20Z")
Fresh human blood, ah yes, I know the smell; a moist rusty scent, not too disagreeable. Unfortunately I also know the smell of rotten human blood, it’s probably the most vile stench I’ve ever encountered; I shouldn’t wonder if there’s a genetic or evolutionary element to that. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-know-the-smell-of-fresh-blood/574155.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-know-the-smell-of-fresh-blood/574155.md?page=3)