# The Aroma of ...

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-aroma-of/628269>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [July 15, 2012, 1:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-aroma-of/628269 "2012-07-15T01:53:31Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 6\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![IceQube](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/dfb087/32.png) [@IceQube](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/IceQube)\
**Post date:** [July 15, 2012, 1:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-aroma-of/628269/1 "2012-07-15T01:53:31Z")

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What exactly is in the air of hardware stores? It’s so pungent, and every time I visit my Home Depot or Lowe’s I always wonder how many brain cells I’m killing.

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**Author:** ![jnglmassiv](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f07891/32.png) [@jnglmassiv](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jnglmassiv)\
**Post date:** [July 15, 2012, 2:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-aroma-of/628269/2 "2012-07-15T02:55:38Z")

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Probably the fertilizer. Not manure, the Scotts-type stuff.

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**Author:** ![sitchensis](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sitchensis/32/4892_2.png) [@sitchensis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sitchensis)\
**Post date:** [July 15, 2012, 3:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-aroma-of/628269/3 "2012-07-15T03:05:02Z")

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To me it’s a struggle between lumber and lawn chemicals, depending on what side of the store you are on.

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**Author:** ![IceQube](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/dfb087/32.png) [@IceQube](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/IceQube)\
**Post date:** [July 15, 2012, 3:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-aroma-of/628269/4 "2012-07-15T03:53:30Z")

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> [@sitchensis](#):
>
> To me it’s a struggle between lumber and lawn chemicals, depending on what side of the store you are on.

Well, isn’t lumber treated with formaldehyde?

Is that formaldehyde I’m smelling when I’m checking out the wood floors?!

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**Author:** ![sitchensis](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sitchensis/32/4892_2.png) [@sitchensis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sitchensis)\
**Post date:** [July 15, 2012, 4:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-aroma-of/628269/5 "2012-07-15T04:14:56Z")

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Pressure treated wood, particle board and fiber board will emit a regulated amount of formaldehyde, but probably not wood flooring. Wood and wood coatings also contain a lot of volatile organic compounds.

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**Author:** ![Shosy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/919ad9/32.png) [@Shosy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shosy)\
**Post date:** [July 15, 2012, 5:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-aroma-of/628269/6 "2012-07-15T05:11:47Z")

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To me it’s 70% fertilizer, 20% cut softwood and 10% escaped chemicals from paint, siding, carpet, etc that we don’t want to think about.