What chemical/gas/etc causes feces to smell?
Answer:
Methane itself does not smell. The odor comes from bacteria that is or was living in your bouls. As it consumes it produces sulfur bearing compounds which have horrid smells. Those compounds are often volatile and dissolve in the air easily. If you need to learn more, focus on the bacteria. Try fecal coliform for a start.
Yes, it's methane gas - which is produced normally in almost all animals including human beings.
Sulphur-containing gases are the major, but not the only, malodorous (smelly) components of human flatus (flatulence gases). These include hydrogen sulphide (H2S), methanethiol and dimethyl sulphide. The greater the odour the higher the hydrogen sulphide concentration, generally.
Ref (abstract):
http://www.pubmedcentral.nih.gov/article...
Ref (PDF fulltext) of the above article:
http://www.pubmedcentral.nih.gov/picrend...
The above PDF reference contains detailed information if you need this for a project/essay.
Hope this helps.
Skatole is the chemical responsible for the smell. It is a tryptophan derivative. Its chemical name is 3-methylindole. Check out this link http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/skatole...
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