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SMELLBOOK REFERENCE · SB-0045

Metal

Permanent ID: smellbook:smell:metal · updated 2026-10-06, revision 4

Character EDITORIAL

Metal smells cool, sharp and slightly sour, with a mineral, blood-like or coin-like note that feels clean and hard.

Words: metallic, cool, sharp, industrial. Families: Temperature and texture, Wood, earth and stone, Animal, material and lived-in.

Met in: Tram.

Evidence

Scientific evidence

  • The metallic smell of touched iron (CLM-IRON-001). Dietmar Glindemann, Andrea Dietrich, Hans-Joachim Staerk & Peter Kuschk, The Two Odors of Iron when Touched or Pickled: (Skin) Carbonyl Compounds and Organophosphines, Angewandte Chemie International Edition, 2006.

Historical evidence

  • Why handled metals smell, as reported in 1898 (CLM-METAL-001). Unsigned, The Physics of Smell, Popular Science Monthly, 1898.

Cite

SmellBook. (2026). Metal (revision 4, 2026-10-06). SmellBook Public Atlas. smellbook:smell:metal. https://smellbook.com/smells/metal

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