Bizarre chemical odor when I enter my apartment (disappears quickly)?

June 19, 2021 4:50 PM

I'm having an odd smell/sensory experience with my apartment. Every time I enter, there's this really strong, somewhat overpowering odor, that's chemically in nature (closest match for the smell I can think of is Windex-like). After I'm inside the apartment for a few minutes, the smell disappears, and the entryway does not have the odor at all. It's only when entering the apartment that I smell it.

It's the oddest thing. I'm trying to pinpoint where the smell is coming from, and why it disappears once I'm inside the apartment for a few minutes, with no recurring smell at all (including when I leave the apartment). The only time it is present is when I enter my apartment after a while.

Some relevant facts:
1) No gas/gas stove at all; 100% electric, so I do not believe it's a form of carbon monoxide poisoning, although I could be wrong.
2) The refrigerator/freezer is next to the entryway. Inside the fridge, all smells fine, but could it possibly be some kind of leak with the refrigeration fluid (whatever you call it) that I'm unable to see?
3) The hallway (interior/contained, no outside air coming in) smells just fine, in/next to my apartment entry door. It's only when I enter inside my apartment itself that it has that strong chemical smell, but it goes away after a few minutes.
4) The entry door, to my knowledge, wasn't painted recently or anything like that.
5) The smell is only present at the entryway. Bedroom/living room/bathroom smells fine.

I normally use Rejuvenate to clean my stained concrete floors (this specific spray/cleaner), although I haven't cleaned the floor in a few weeks (strict shoes off policy). Is it possible the smell somehow "stained" my floor? That might not make sense as the smell disappears, though, and the cleaner's actual smell is not as overpowering. I've also taken out the trash and checked all components of my apartment, but could not find a possible source of the smell.

Any ideas? I'm at a complete loss here. This issue started 1-2 days ago. Should I ask the maintenance team to come take a look? The only reason I ask is because the smell is so overpowering that it gives me a headache (even though it's only present for 1-2 minutes), and I'm concerned there's some kind of weird chemical leak or something, unless I'm missing something.

Thanks!

posted by dubious_dude to Home & Garden (27 answers total)

Is it possible for you to have someone come over at a time you are home and believe the smell is not present, in order to find out if they also smell it when they enter? I'm wondering if the odor truly dissipates after a few minutes or if your sense of smell gets overwhelmed and no longer registers it - that is, is the smell truly going away or are you just unable to sense it after extended exposure. That might help to narrow down the options.
posted by DSime at 5:01 PM on June 19, 2021 [21 favorites]

I haven't used Windex in a couple of decades, but in the olden days I believe its smell was the smell of ammonia. Ancient refrigerators used ammonia as the working fluid, but that was phased out many decades ago, so it's rather unlikely. Urea (main source = pee) can decompose into ammonia under certain conditions; is it possible someone's dog peed on your door a couple of days ago and opening the door stirs up/exposes some aging pee in/on the threshold?

Another possibility is that there's a lingering smell, but some "deodorizer" product that deadens your sense of smell has been used in the apartment and so you stop being able to smell it within a minute or two of entering. I had a similar experience to what you describe in a scummy hotel once -- when I entered my room, for a few seconds I would smell a mucky wet-dog type of smell, but then it would go away. Apparently there'd been flooding (the room was at ground level) and they'd doused the room in deodorizer, which doesn't do anything about the airborne substances that cause the odour but instead deadens one's sense of smell. By the time I checked out I had terrible congestion and a runny nose. I felt pretty betrayed.
posted by heatherlogan at 5:22 PM on June 19, 2021 [4 favorites]

If you go out of your apartment for only 1 or 2 minutes, and then re-enter, do you smell it?
posted by heatherlogan at 5:23 PM on June 19, 2021 [4 favorites]

What floor do you live on? Do you have a carbon monoxide detector?
posted by bq at 5:25 PM on June 19, 2021

I make coffee every morning and I usually notice the smell of coffee grounds the first minute or two when I enter my apartment but my nose quickly gets desensitized to the smell and I no longer smell it after a few minutes. The smell is still there, but my nose just doesn't pick it up after a few minutes. So it's definitely possible the odor is still in your apartment after you enter but your nose just gets desensitized to the smell.
posted by mundo at 5:27 PM on June 19, 2021 [8 favorites]

Response by poster: Is it possible for you to have someone come over at a time you are home and believe the smell is not present, in order to find out if they also smell it when they enter?

That's a good idea. I can try doing that.

Another possibility is that there's a lingering smell, but some "deodorizer" product that deadens your sense of smell has been used in the apartment and so you stop being able to smell it within a minute or two of entering

Just to clarify, do you mean inside my apartment? I haven't used any deodorizer (don't like smell plug-ins, don't like chemicals in general) other than diluted white vinegar on occasion inside my apartment; and live alone, so nobody else has been able to do so. Or do you mean in the hallway itself? I guess it could be possible, but the hallway smells the same as it always has, I think? And this started only 1-2 days ago, so...

If you go out of your apartment for only 1 or 2 minutes, and then re-enter, do you smell it?

Not at all.

What floor do you live on? Do you have a carbon monoxide detector?

The second floor. No, but no gas appliances at all—everything is 100% electric. I don't even get a gas bill at all.
posted by dubious_dude at 5:55 PM on June 19, 2021

I had an issue where I'd get in my car, start driving and smell an overwhelming chemical smell. Like someone was spray painting into the air. My neighborhood can be a little crazy sometimes so I figured one of my neighbors was doing something they shouldn't in their garage or something. I may have even reported the smell to DEQ as it smelled really chemically one day.

What I think it actually was? The Altoids tin in my center console. I opened it one day and caught the faintest whiff of that smell and had an a-ha moment. I think, sitting in the car, with the temperature fluctuations, the peppermint oil was doing something and my car is a small space. It never lingered beyond the block, either because I got used to it or because the air filter moved things around.

My point is, is there anything located there that could be off-gassing an aroma? Something in a drawer? Something in a pocket hanging on a hook?
posted by amanda at 5:55 PM on June 19, 2021 [2 favorites]

Is it ever there when you have been in the apartment for a long time. Like in the morning? It only shows up if you have been out for say 4 hours + but never if you have been inside for the same length of time as it takes to be present after you have been out? Odd. Makes me think that exposure to the smell is causing you to desensitize to it, and that it is present almost all the time. Have a friend come over both with you when you return and then say the next day when you have been home for a while and see if they smell it under both circumstances.

As for what it is, it could be, I have no idea. Sealant on the cement floor?
posted by AugustWest at 6:13 PM on June 19, 2021 [1 favorite]

Response by poster: Is it ever there when you have been in the apartment for a long time. Like in the morning?

No, so far, no. It's only there when I've stepped out of the apartment and return. I haven't put a solid timeline, but maybe ~30 minutes-an hour and I return, it'll be there. When I wake up in the morning, no issue/smell. I also haven't felt any headaches, other than when I actually entered the apartment and smelled the strong smell, so far.

As for what it is, it could be, I have no idea. Sealant on the cement floor?

Could be, although it started recently in the past 1-2 days, I suspect something had happened, either inside my apartment, or outside somehow. I got a new helmet recently on Thursday, so it could theoretically be possible it's offgasing from the helmet (even though it's been taken outside)?

Sorry to threadsit, but wanted to make sure to answer all the important questions to help get better answers! @amanda, not that I can see, but I'll double check everything just to be sure.
posted by dubious_dude at 6:18 PM on June 19, 2021

It is likely that your place smells like that all the time, but you only notice it in transition. It's called sensory adaptation (sometimes also olfactory fatigue) and is the same phenomenon where someone doesn't know their house smells like litter box, they wear a gallon of perfume or "body spray" because they think nobody can smell it because they can't smell it, or they've got four Yankee Candles going because they "lose strength" after a few minutes. Glade even makes both intermittent and two-scent air freshening devices so that your brain doesn't get an opportunity to acclimate so you constantly smell the air freshener - because people complain about not being able to smell it.

As someone who's had cats, a weed-smoking roommate, and a slow leak growing a fine crop of mold over time, I assure you that if you only notice it for a minute every time you walk in the door, it likely smells like that all the time.

The next time you take a shower, use some really scented bath products and then take a big fresh huff of your general apartment air as soon as you open the bathroom door to leave. You might be able to catch your brain off guard enough to shut off the filter for a second.

There is maybe also the possibility that the apartment complex does some kind of pest control spray along the walking paths and threshholds - it's usually specifically either for ants or wood-destroying insects like termites - and it stinks when it's fresh. That should fade within 2-3 days.
posted by Lyn Never at 6:23 PM on June 19, 2021 [22 favorites]

I'm sure this won't help, but....I recently bought a rubber bathtub mat and it REEKS of checmical/plasticizer.... I only notice it when I enter the bathroom, then my nose gets used to it and I don't notice it. Do you have any new rubber/plastic stuff?
posted by tristeza at 6:53 PM on June 19, 2021 [2 favorites]

Acrylic polymers off gass ammonia solvent as part of the drying process. This could be recently painted walls or carpets or some other plastic product. Seconding what others have said about olfactory fatigue as the reason the smell "goes away". Try ventilating your living space really well for a few days. Humid weather will retard drying time and dry weather will accelerate.
posted by effluvia at 7:23 PM on June 19, 2021

Yeah, windex smells like ammonia. Common causes for household ammonia smells include cat pee (VERY ammonia smelling), human pee, leaking refrigerant, leaking cleaning products (or properly, recently-used cleaning products), and human sweat. If you're smelling it just right when you come inside -- I'm going to guess from the hot summer air outside -- are you sure you're not smelling your own sweat, which stops stinking of ammonia after a few minutes in the A/C? You're more likely to have stinky ammonia sweat if you're losing weight or eating a high-protein diet.

When I was pregnant, Cheerios absolutely REEKED of ammonia to me. Apparently there's a fair amount of ammonia in oats and sometimes people can smell it in various things like oatmeal or oatmilk or soap made with oats. Now I feel like all I can smell when someone eats Cheerios is the ammonia. Sometimes I come in the house and go "OH GOD DID THE CAT PEE ON SOMETHING?" and the answer is no, nope, my kids were just eating Cheerios and left their bowls out.
posted by Eyebrows McGee at 8:17 PM on June 19, 2021 [6 favorites]

Sweat hypothesis was actually my thought too! When I come inside from a hard run, I get an intense whoosh of bleach smell like someone is bellows-ing fumes into my face-- and then it immediately disappears.
posted by dusty potato at 8:41 PM on June 19, 2021 [1 favorite]

Are you turning on a light when you come in?
Do you still smell it if you come in but don’t turn on any switches?

Different thought:
Can you activate the smell by opening your door? Could it be paint or cleaner on the door?
posted by calgirl at 9:32 PM on June 19, 2021

I'm sure you're experiencing olfactory fatigue. You can confirm by plugging up your nose before approaching your home, walk all the way in to the furthest reaches, then unplug your nose. I expect it'll smell just like it does when you usually first enter and will soon go away. You can use this technique to find where it's strongest in your home and hopefully identify the cause. For me it's the compost, trash, or dog; they all stink up close, but one sometimes enough to make the whole flat smell.
posted by flimflam at 10:02 PM on June 19, 2021

I am floored that with the Cheerios Ammonia thing Eyebrows McGee. Kid 2 ate a lot of cheerios, and after changing many diapers with I though the diapers smelled like cheerios. I though it was sleep deprivation but I found myself completely unable to stand Cheerios. This association lasted years and years.
posted by zenon at 10:19 PM on June 19, 2021 [2 favorites]

Do you have a window open in the apartment? If so, opening the door could draw in an odor from outside.
posted by happy_cat at 10:58 PM on June 19, 2021

Here's a hypothesis assuming several factors that I think could be in play, but don't have enough info: If it has been hotter the last couple of days than it has been since you've lived in the apartment, perhaps it's possible that the higher heat in the closed apartment during the day is releasing fumes that either dissipate quickly once you open the door upon coming home, or, as others have suggested, that you become quickly anosmic to.

Could it be the sealant on the concrete floor? Especially if the sealant was applied within the last year (at a guess) perhaps there is an area or areas where it hasn't completely "cured" for some reason, but it only becomes obvious above a certain temperature. For example, here's the story of homeowners who had a mystery smell that came from their concrete sealant, but it was only coming from under cabinets in a certain space, where the sealant hadn't properly cured before the cabinets were installed: Why Concrete Sealers May Leave a Lingering Odor.

Or perhaps something else that might be responding to the combo of heat and still air? Some sort of glue or fabric treatment, etc. Some ideas: Close off any rooms that you can, and upon coming home, hold your nose and first go into the closed room(s) to see if the smell occurs there or if it is perhaps stronger in one of the closed rooms. This might help to begin to narrow down the origin, if it's not actually apartment-wide. Having a friend come over may not help to ascertain that the smell is there if the smell dissipates really quickly upon new/fresh air entering the apartment. It might be better to start by having a friend (with a good nose!) come with you to first enter the apartment to see if they perceive the same scent, and if it also disappears for them after a few minutes. If so then you have a baseline, and you can then have a friend come over at some point once you've been home a bit, and if they smell it and you don't, you know that your brain/nose is just turning off that olfactory info.

You might try leaving a floor fan or similar running in the apartment during the day, and see if that prevents the odor from accumulating (if so, then basically it's maybe still there but just dispersed enough that it's not noticeable in the more aired out apartment). Note the heat level on days you do / do not encounter the smell. And if you have any success trying to isolate the origin to one particular area, then you can begin to rule out certain things ... like completely cover the new sofa (I'm making up a new sofa for the sake of example!) in heavy garbage bag wrap and tape, and if no smell upon return after work, then it's probably some sort of fabric spray or flame retardant used on the sofa. Etc.

If it hasn't been hotter where you live, or you've lived in the apartment during as hot or hotter periods, then most of this conjecture is useless, though trying different means to try to track down the area that is most affected might still be helpful. Either way, good luck solving this whiffy mystery! I hope you find the culprit!
posted by taz at 11:19 PM on June 19, 2021

If you got a new helmet at about the same time the smell first appeared, and the helmet is stored somewhere near your front door, offgassing from the helmet is a completely plausible source of chemical stink. Close to, I can smell polystyrene foam that's very old.

You could test this by storing it somewhere else for a while.

The fact that the smell goes away after a short time is most likely sensory adaptation / olfactory fatigue.
posted by flabdablet at 5:49 AM on June 20, 2021 [2 favorites]

I am betting that the smell collects enough that you can smell it on arrival but the movement of air after you are there dissipates it. I am also going to bet that the culprit is a piece of fruit that is hidden somewhere and rotting.
posted by InkaLomax at 6:25 AM on June 20, 2021

The refrigerator/freezer is next to the entryway.
...the smell is so overpowering that it gives me a headache...

Refrigerator coolant leaks are a common cause of a chemical smell in or near the refrigerator, and freon inhalation can cause headaches.
posted by La Gata at 10:17 AM on June 20, 2021 [1 favorite]

Response by poster: Wow, okay. Some very helpful answers here.

I have an update and some questions.

Today, I came in and held my nose, went to the living room (which is down from the kitchen, not closed off but still there), and still could smell the odor. I was unable to test by going in my bedroom/bathroom (closed doors) due to time, but will definitely do that next time.

Observation: the smell actually smells more like permanent markers/nail polish remover in a way, and sorta like Windex. It's really hard to explain/pinpoint, but that's the best way to describe it. It's also "steady" and continued, so not like less strong, if that also makes sense.

Questions:
1) The helmet theory... I did smell the helmet and it doesn't smell bad at all, or like that smell. Would an "off-gassing" helmet actually cause that continual chemical smell, especially after a few days?
2) How would I know if my refrigerator is leaking or not? I have noticed somewhat of a spike in my electric usage, and using the refrigerator even on full does not seem to feel COLD. My food is cold fine, but not COLD enough, if that makes sense. Therefore, the coolant leak theory MIGHT hold some water here.
3) As this recently began on around Thursday, and is still here, should I be concerned about any health aspects or whatnot? I've felt fine the past few days so far, but should this be a concern of any kind?

I think I'll have the maintenance team come here and check things out, just to be on the safe side. I did check for anything that's leaking or whatnot but everything seems fine; all chemicals are properly sealed, and there's no rotting fruit/vegetables that I know of.

Thanks so much! Pardon if this was a bit all over the place.
posted by dubious_dude at 2:32 PM on June 20, 2021 [1 favorite]

I've found stale coffee to smell a bit chemically until I place it.
posted by slidell at 6:28 PM on June 20, 2021

I did smell the helmet and it doesn't smell bad at all, or like that smell.

Ruled out then.

How would I know if my refrigerator is leaking or not? I have noticed somewhat of a spike in my electric usage, and using the refrigerator even on full does not seem to feel COLD. My food is cold fine, but not COLD enough, if that makes sense

Definitely the new prime suspect.

How Do You Know If Your Refrigerator Is Leaking Freon?
posted by flabdablet at 8:54 PM on June 20, 2021 [1 favorite]

using the refrigerator even on full does not seem to feel COLD. My food is cold fine, but not COLD enough, if that makes sense

Whether it's the cause of the smell or not, now might be a good time to get a fridge thermometer.
posted by ManyLeggedCreature at 2:13 AM on June 21, 2021

The kn95 masks that I've been wearing have a distinct chemical smell which I only notice in specific contexts. Is it possible that something new you are wearing has a very slight smell that you only notice when it's near/on your face? Something that you habitually remove when you enter the apartment could explain why you only notice it when first walking in.
posted by eraserbones at 7:01 AM on June 21, 2021