The Allegheny County Health Department has launched a dashboard so people can learn the origin of the rotten egg odor that sometimes inhabits their air.
A release Tuesday said the dashboard will be dedicated to tracking hydrogen sulfide, H2S, a colorless gas that has the odor frequently compared to rotten eggs.
It will display information from the county’s two H2S monitoring stations in North Braddock and Liberty. It will be available on the county’s website.
The news release said “the most common sources of H2S are from industrial processes like oil and natural gas refineries, kraft paper production, coke ovens and tanneries. It is also released at sewage treatment facilities, landfills, as well as during bacterial breakdown of human and animal waste.”
The county said Pennsylvania is one of a few states with a hydrogen sulfide regulation, and the county incorporated it into its rules in 1971.
“The smell associated with H2S has long been a concern for Allegheny County residents,” Health Department Acting Director Patrick Dowd said in the release. “Hourly H2S readings have been available on the department’s website for years, but creating this dashboard allows for the data to be understood in a much more straightforward and discernible way.”
First Published: March 14, 2023, 9:46 p.m.