Why do i like the smell of gasoline

In this series, we dig into our strange phobias, fixations, and neuroses, and ask ourselves — Is This Normal?

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🎥 Must Watch: Fuel-Saving Hacks
What is petrol made of?
The smell of petrol is associated with memories!
Is the smell of petrol also a drug?
At Sillages Paris, diesel flowers!

Imagine being on a road trip, needing to make a pit stop on the side of the highway, surrounded by lush greenery, the sound of cars whizzing by in the background, the prospect of unlimited gas station snacks, and a myriad smells — dust, damp earth and … gasoline. Mmmm.

The pungent chemical odor has a way of creeping in and settling down into one’s olfactory senses, almost compelling one to take a deep breath. So what if it’s the smell of inflammable, noxious chemicals; all that matters is it’s delicious. I, for one, am a fan. But is this normal?

Gasoline contains almost 150 chemicals, including benzene, which has a sweet smell, according to the U.S. Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (ATSDR). The smell of benzene is so potent that a person can begin to whiff it at 0.25 parts of gasoline per million parts of air (ppm), the ATSDR states. In the 1800s, benzene was even used to add a sweet smell to aftershaves and douches, until scientists found it’s a harmful, cancer-causing chemical.

Some people, including yours truly, have an affinity for the sweet smell of benzene. One theory is benzene makes some people nostalgic for their childhood — “gas may jog the memory of summers spent at the lake where powerboats ran rampant, or of summertime in general,” neurologist Dr. Alan Hirsch told Greatist. Our sense of smell has a particularly unique connection to memory. All the other senses pass through the thalamus in the brain — “a switchboard of sorts,” Carl Engelking describes for Discovery Magazine — that helps make sense of sensations. But the olfactory sense has direct connections to the amygdala and hippocampus, associated with emotions and memory respectively. If one’s childhood was replete with happy summer road trips, then benzene is one’s memory drug.

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Or, some people might just like to get high. According to the U.S. National Institute of Drug Abuse (NDA), gasoline is an inhalant, containing “psychoactive properties.” In the same category as other household products such as cleaning fluids, glues, and markers, gasoline contains hydrocarbons that suppress the central nervous system, activating the mesolimbic or ‘reward’ pathway, which releases a quick, small shot of dopamine to the brain. This causes a feeling of relaxation and euphoria, according to the NDA. Inhaling gasoline can also make one feel light-headed, feel less self-conscious, or experience mild hallucinations, the NDA states.

Since gasoline offers a short-term high, it’s possible to get addicted to the feeling and do it over and over again. But, the ATSDR states, high concentrations can irritate the lungs, cause permanent damage to the nervous system, may cause an inability to breathe, or induce a coma. Continuously inhaling gasoline fumes, or inhaling them in large amounts, can lead to slurred or distorted speech, lack of control of body movement, and dizziness, the NDA adds.

So, a note to self: However good it might feel to travel down memory lane or get high for a few seconds, do not make sniffing gasoline a habit. Yes, it’s completely normal — just ask Lizzo or Kim Kardashian — but is it safe? Sadly, no.

C.J. BurtonGetty Images

I don’t know about you, but when I drive over to Wawa, I’m not just excited about the mouth-watering scent of a fresh Italian hoagie—I’m equally jazzed about the whiff of petrol that immediately fills my nostrils when I pull out the nozzle at the gas pump to refuel.

Admit it, you probably like that pungent gasoline stench, too. It’s hard to describe, but the smell is a bit sweet thanks to one of the 150 or so chemicals contained in the fuel mix. Benzene, a colorless and highly flammable liquid, gives petrol its recognizable smell, but it makes up just about 1 percent of gasoline by volume, according to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. Yet, our sniffers are so finely attuned to the hydrocarbon that most of us can detect its presence at just 60 parts per million of air, according to the U.S. Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry. (One part per million is about equal to one drop in 40 gallons, for context).

While scientists haven’t quite cracked the case on our affinity for the smell, there are two prevailing theories: one has to do with our memories, and one has to do with our brain’s reward pathway.

If you’ve ever smelled a particular cologne and immediately thought of your father, or inhaled the scent of fresh laundry and conjured images of your old job at the laundromat, you’re already familiar with the first theory, which deals with the Proust phenomenon: a strong emotional reaction to a familiar smell. This is due to the brain’s anatomy.

The olfactory bulb, located in the front of your brain, handles the sense of smell, sending data about what you just whiffed to other parts of your brain for further processing. That scent information takes a direct line to the limbic system, which controls basic emotions. The amygdala, which controls emotions like fear and pleasure, and the hippocampus, which handles memory, are both structures of the limbic system, which have tons of neural connections near the olfactory bulb.

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As a result, that information about the smell of gasoline is quickly passed on from the olfactory bulb to the parts of your brain that control your emotions and memories. Fond memories of riding dirt bikes with your brother can trigger subconscious happy memories just by inhaling a bit of gasoline while filling up your car’s gas tank and staring off into space.

The second theory deals with the mesolimbic pathway, also known as the reward pathway. When you smell benzene or other hydrocarbons, it suppresses your nervous system, giving you a temporary euphoric feeling (yes, kind of like huffing paint, which I don’t recommend you try). When that occurs, your mesolimbic pathway doles out the neurotransmitter dopamine, making you feel happier and reinforcing that whatever you just smelled is very, very good stuff.

That said, if you relish the aroma of gasoline at the pump on a hot summer day, you’re definitely not a weirdo. Just remember that benzene is a carcinogen that’s pretty dangerous to inhale for long periods of time or at high concentrations.

So take a deep breath and smell the petrol. But maybe just one little whiff.

I can't be the only one who loves the smell of gasoline? I know it's dangerous but I love it :D

Why do we love the smell of petrol so much? What do we like about its pungent, almost sweet chemical smell that tickles our olfactory bulb? For every person who finds the smell pleasant, there are surely just as many who cannot stand it. But to understand this fanaticism, we have to dig at the source.

What is petrol made of?

Smell of petrol

Petrol is a real chemical cocktail, which is dangerous to health. It is a combination of many ingredients, such as lubricants, de-icers, rust inhibitors, as well as hundreds of hydrocarbons. Of these, benzene is responsible for petrol’s intoxicating smell.

From a mechanical standpoint, benzene is added to petrol to improve engine performance and fuel efficiency.

On the olfactory side, benzene is both powerful and light, woody and aromatic, dark and green. Thus, most noses are sensitive to it. We can detect it instantly, even at a very low concentration in the air.

This hydrocarbon smell is present in the so-called terpene molecules. If you put your nose in lavender, cannabis, resinous trees like pine, or a ripe mango, you will smell the terpenes in action. These odorous molecules give flowers, plants, trees, and fruits their earthy and even citrusy facets. So why do we love the smell of petrol so much?

The smell of petrol is associated with memories!

Olfactive memory

Our nose can bring back powerful and vivid memories if it picks up a familiar smell. The smell of cut grass can be enough to recall weekends on grandparents’ green grass when we were children. This powerful link between smell and memory is referred to in Proust’s famous Madeleine. Marcel Proust describes a powerful childhood memory, evoked by the smell of a madeleine dipped in tea.

The sense of smell is in fact the only sense directly linked to the area of the brain involved in emotional response and memory formation. Therefore, smell signals do not pass through an analysis box before becoming anchored in our memory. This is why smells cause our brain to form strong, emotional memories at a completely subconscious level.

But let’s get back to the point. We may have formed powerful and pleasant memories related to the smell of petrol, or more specifically to benzene. Our brains may have associated its smell with happy childhood memories, such as summer car trips, motorboat rides, walks on a paved country road or time spent in a garage…

The smell of benzene can then trigger a feeling of nostalgia linked to a memory that is more or less significant.

Is the smell of petrol also a drug?

Addictive smell ?

Another theory focuses more on the physical effect of benzene and the nerve receptors that detect its smell. Benzene, like other hydrocarbons when inhaled, has an inhibiting effect on our nervous system. This leads to a temporary and pleasant feeling of euphoria, not unlike that of alcohol or other drugs.

This is because the biological process of numbing our nerves activates the mesolimbic pathway, known as the brain’s reward pathway. Every time our olfactory nerves receive a dose of benzene, the mesolimbic system releases dopamine molecules – one of the pleasure, feel-good hormones – thereby inviting addiction.

So be careful and remember that it can be dangerous for your health!

At Sillages Paris, diesel flowers!

So why do we love the smell of petrol so much? Many of us are drawn to the smell of marker pens, new tennis balls, books or other smells closely related to benzene. It may be that we have unconsciously attached a strong and pleasant memory to this smell. Or it could mechanically trigger a satisfying dose of dopamine.

Scientists are still constantly learning new things about this powerful sense.

But at Sillages Paris, perfumers defy all laws to create the unique smell of the essence in a bottle, without any harmful substances.

Our Sillage #396: Diesel Flowers.

A raw, dark start. The smell of gasoline. Then, an orgy of intoxicating, powdery, animalic flowers. Finally, a woody and burning leather that sets the place alight.

The essence, bitter and appetizing.