2008 May 02 Odournet launches a beta version of a new website to offer information on odour control techniques and its suppliers: Odour Control Network. The site offers a quick slection feature allowing operators in specific industrial sectors to access detailed information on suitable and proven techniques for odour control and the suppliers that can deliver. The site works as an information clearing house. Only applications with quantitative proof and references are included and the information is vetted by Odournet consultants. Odournet does not endorse any supplier to remain independent. However, the site is in response to the need to find good solutions for odour control when studies show that further mitigation is required. The site aims to offer a wide range of reliable information. Odournet México designed and managed the website. Companies interested to be present on the site can contact members@odourcontrolnetwork.com. to obtain a password and access the site. Let us know what you think of this initiative and your suggestions to improve the site by mailing info@odourcontrolnetwork.com

2008 May 02 Odournet México is committed to help the Mexican industry to solve their odour related issues. For such purposes we have designed a set of Technical seminars on Odour measurement and management. The seminar gives the attendee an overall picture on Odour law frame work, measurement techniques, and available control technologies. Odournet Mexico considers this seminar a key factor to understand and solve odour related issues. Enquiries and registration please contact Lic. Arturo Baeza mx@odournet.com. .

2008 May 01 The preliminary programme of the 3rd IWA International Conference on Odour and VOC’s is now available on the conference website, www.iwa2008odour.com  Ensure your participation and hotel booking by registering online at the same website.

2008 Apr 22 Odournet México met the Governor of Sinaloa C. Jesús Aguilar Padilla, and the Municipal president of Culiacan city C. Jesús Vizcarra Calderón. A wonderful event held in CIT2 that enabled us to discuss Odour issues in composting facilities and intensive agriculture.

2008 Apr 15 A proficiency test for olfactometry is being organised by Olfatec, Germany, providing laboratories with an opportunity to demonstrate compliance with the performace criteria in  EN13725. For details refer to http://www.olfatec.de/eng/ring/rv13725.html Testing will take place in the week from 23-26 June 2008.

2008 Apr 1-5 Our CEO Ton van Harreveld visited Odournet México. An active agenda gave our CEO an insight of the Mexican market through local clients, collaborators and services suppliers. ONMX staff was pleased to host our CEO, and appreciates his full support on Latin-American projects.

2008 Jan PRA Odournet BV performed an extensive odour assessment at an iron foundry in the Netherlands. The assessment, commissioned by the Dutch authorities, was performed because of the large number of odour complaints generated in the area surrounding the foundry, while previous research had demonstrated that no unacceptable level of nuisance was to be expected. Many types of measurements were performed, including olfactometric measurements, total hydrocarbon measurements, tracer gas measurements and extensive field measurements.
One result of particular note that was found was that the odour samples were very sensitive to chemical changes: Within a few hours of sampling a relevant decrease in the odour concentration of the samples was found. Moreover, the total hydrocarbon measurements indicated that the odour emission of the most relevant odour sources was highly variable over time. The overall conclusion of the assessment was that the odour impact was higher than previous research had implied and so the nuisance in the area surrounding the foundry could be explained.

2008 Jan 04 Odournet completes first project for Sukom International, Lebanon. To determine the odour abatement efficiency of the biofilters at the composting facilities of SUKOMI in Beirut (www.sukomi.com), an odour laboratory was set up at the premises of the company. With a locally selected panel, odour measurements were performed in accordance with EN 13725:2003. The next survey is scheduled for Spring 2008. SUKOMI performs periodical odour surveys of the equipment at the composting facility.

2007-2008 Odournet México buys you breakfast! We are happy to have a confidential chat regarding your Odour related problems during breakfast. Our staff will organize a business breakfast with our Director Walter Murguía within 1 week from your call. Contact us within Mexico at 01 (81) 1234 3699 or alternatively email us at mx@odournet.com.

2007 Oct 16 Odournet México staff had the honour and pleasure to meet the Governor of the state of Morelos. Dr. Marco Antonio Adame took a tour through CIT2 technological centre where Odournet México is hosted. Walter Murguía gave Dr. Adame an insight on how to prevent Odour related issues in Morelos.

2007 Nov 9-5 Odournet México will be present at Semana Nacional PYME 2007 in Mexico city. Come and see us at Centro de Convenciones Banamex stand No O1521. Odournet México is one of the many interesting companies present in the Innovation and Technological Development ward.

2007 Sept “Forum Universal de las Culturas” has been officially inaugurated. Cultural diversity, Knowledge, and Sustainable Development are the core issues of this wonderful global event held in Monterrey. More than 1,000 activities including conferences, concerts, cultural exhibits and expositions will colour 2007 Forum. More info can be found at www.monterreyforum2007.org

2007 Sept All three Odournet laboratories for olfactometry demonstrate full compliance with EN13725 perfomance criteria in the latest international interlaboratory comparison for olfactometry 2007 organised by Olfatec, Germany. Of the 29 out of 71 participating laboratories that did the full RV-plus EN13725 compliance test, only twelve laboratories demonstrated compliance for both repeatability and accuracy. Odournet is very proud to confirm that our three olfactometry laboratories are all within the fully compliant group of 12. The EN13725 criterium for precision under repetability conditions is r < 0,477 while the criterium for accuracy is A < 0,217. The actual values determined for Odournet laboratories are:

• PRA Odournet (Amsterdam), lab 68 in the test report,               r = 0,193 and A = 0,155
• Odournet UK (Bradford on Avon, UK), lab 52 in the test report, r = 0,301 and A = 0,088
• Aroma Consult (Rennes, France), lab 54 in the test report,        r = 0,302 and A = 0,073

For Odournet clients this implies that the uncertainty of results is well below the values set in EN13725. For more information on the implications of these results, please contact the Odournet quality coordinator Anouk Snik at asnik@odournet.com or your laboratory coordinator Lucy Cope (UK) at lcope@odournet.com or Silvia Derien (FR) at sderien@aromaconsult.fr 

2007 Sept Odournet México consultancy team, advised CEA Querétaro on how to measure and control odours in the drainage systems. Odournet helped to reduce significantly odour-induced annoyance experienced by tourists and locals.

2007 Sept The Metropolitan Area of the Environment of Barcelona awards Odournet the contract to produce an odour impact map of the Diagonal Mar/Forum area of Barcelona. The objective is to determne the frequency of recognisabe odours from the wastewater treatment plant of Besós and other sources of odour in the area, using the VDI/DIN3940 standard for odour exposure measurement with field panels. The measurements will be conducted in the course of a full year, starting October 2007. The result will be an odour map, showing the level of impact in the area.

2007 Aug 13 Lic. José Natividad González, Governor of Nuevo León (México) inaugurates EGADE Business Accelerator offices. Odournet México and 6 other member companies were pleased and honoured to explain the benefits of their services for the local industry. Our most sincere congratulations to Dra. Elisa Cobas, Dr. Eugenio García and all Monterrey Tech staff for this wonderful event.

2007 July Odournet is delighted to announce the 3rd IWA International Conference on Odours and VOCs – Measurement, Regulation and Control Techniques, to be held 8-10 October 2008, in Barcelona, Spain. See the Agenda section for more information.

2007 July 19 The Área Metropolitana de Barcelona have awarded Odournet S.L. the contract to extend the field panel study of the impacts around the Ecoparc2 waste management facility, near Barcelona. The study will be carried out according to the German standard VDI/DIN3940, and aims to show the effects of a programme of odour control improvements now being implemented at Ecoparc2.

2007 July 16 Estel·la Pagans Miró, consultant at Odournet Barcelona, successfully defended her PhD thesis titled ‘Estudi de les emissions I la biofiltració dels gasos emesos en el procés de compostatge de diferents residus orgànics’. She obtained her doctorate from the Universidad Autónoma de Barcelona.

2007 June As a result of a continuous drive to improve quality, PRG Odournet NV obtained an ISO9001:2000 accreditation for its consultancy operations. SGS Belgium, Systems and Services Certification, carried out the audit on May 3rd, 2007, with accreditation certificate BE07/1026.QA as a result. Congratulations to Griet Philips, quality coordinator in Ghent!

2007 June 07 The Sub-secretary of PYME of Mexico, Lic. Heriberto Felix Guerra, and the Secretary of Economic Development of the state of Nuevo Leon will officially inaugurate CIT2 Technological Centre. This six thousand square meters centre hosts some of the most innovative Mexican young companies in the fields of Environment, Industrial Design, Software, Microelectronics, IT, and Mechatronics. TEC de Monterrey University sponsors this vanguard concept to develop and commercialize new technical solutions to the local industry of Nuevo Leon.

2007 June 01 Odournet México is pleased to announce its collaboration with CIT2 technological Centre “Centro de Innovación y Transferencia Tecnológica”. This collaboration ensures an adequate infrastructure to provide our services throughout Mexico. From June 1st our Mexican offices will be located at:
Pabellón TEC – Local 38, Cubículo 23A
Avenida Eugenio Garza 427
Colonia Altavista, CP 64840
Monterrey, NL.
T. +52 (81) 8647 1240

2007 May 30 A feasibility study to implement a local odour law in Mexico city has been carried out by the Centro Mexicano de Derecho Ambiental (CEMDA). This unprecedented study in Latin America makes reference to several articles published by our own MSc. Ton Van Harreveld, CEO of Odournet companies. A complete copy of the study can be obtained in Spanish here.

2007 May 15 Environmental Nuisances Conference was held in the beautiful city of Vancouver, in British Columbia. More than 50 presentations were given on practical experiences and technological developments in Noise, Light, Odour and Fugitive dust. More than 100 professionals from Mexico, Canada, and the United States attended this meeting organized by the Air and Waste Management Association.

2007 Feb 7 In June 2007 an international interlaboratory comparison for olfactometry will be held. The test is organised by Olfatec, Germany, who have gained experience in two previous comparisons, in 2003 and 2005. This time, Olfatec have been accredited under ISO17020, and the comparison is monitored by a technical committee, where Odournet is represented by its quality manager, Ton van Harreveld. Odournet can recommend participation, particularly for accredited laboratories who can in this way demonstrate their ability to work within the requirements of EN13725 (RV PLUS option). For more information and registration, please go here.

2007 Jan 8 Odournet holds its regular general Odournet Group general staff meeting at the end of January at the Vall de Nuria mountain resort in the Catalan Pyrenees.

2006 Dec 10 AROMA Consult is the new joint venture between Sodae, laboratory for environmental analyses, and Odournet, specialised in odour management and impact assessment. Aroma Consult will build on the existing client base of Sodae and its parent company, Groupe Merlin. Primarily AROMA Consult will provide an analytical services, including odour concentration measurements according to European olfactometry standard EN13725. A completely new state of the art odour laboratory was installed at the Sodae premises in Rennes, Bretagne, which increases the capacity of the AROMA laboratory to over 20 analyses a day. By joining the capabilities of Sodae and Odournet, AROMA Consult, managed by Maxime Claudot, will be able to add the full range of consultancy on environmental odours of the Odournet Group to the services currently provided to the French market. For more information and analytical services, contact Sylvia Derien: sderien@odournet.com

2006 Dec 6 The CEN working group on odour assessment using field panels, CEN/TC264/WG27 had its first meeting at the Haus der Technik VDI headquarters in Düsseldorf. Odournet consultants Ton van Harreveld (Netherlands representation) and Toon van Elst (Belgium representation) will participate in the standardisation process.

2006 Dec 1 Walter Murguia will be shareholder and director of the new Odournet joint venture Odournet México S.A. de C.V. in Monterrey, México. The company will target the emerging market for consultancy on air quality, air pollutant dispersion studies, impact assessment of environmental odours and their management. The new branch will also play a key role in providing odour consultancy services throughout Latin America.

2006 Nov 4 Odournet S.L. of Barcelona was contracted by the Department of the Environment of the Catalan regional government to prepare three sectorial guidance documents aimed at organic waste management, livestock rearing and wastewater treatment. The documents aim to provide specific guidance to companies within those sectors operating in Cataluña on how to manage their odour impacts. The guidance documents are expected to become available during the spring of 2007.

2006 Feb 28 The entity responsible for waste management in Barcelona has awarded OdourNet with the contract to conduct a long term odour impact study around the domestic waste processing facility Ecoparc2, in Montcada i Reixac near Barcelona. The field assessments will be conducted according to the German standard VDI/DIN3940 for a duration of approx. 8 months. The 'raster panel' observations will be combined with source-out medelling to link the results of these two assessment methods.

2005 Nov 01 OdourNet adopts Aya, a female Tapir in Artis Zoo, Amsterdam. PRA OdourNet is very pleased to broaden our consultancy arrangements on air quality with Artis and contribute to its core business. We welcome the opportunity to adopt a suitably nosey female Tapirus indicus at Artis and hope she will do well. For a picture of the Artis tapirs, click here.

2005 Oct 27 Hedonic tone standard NVN2818 published. The Dutch standards institute published the standard NVN2818 Air quality – Determination of hedonic value using olfactometry. These measurements are carried out to establish differences in the nuisance potential of specific odours. In the Netherlands, the results are used to derive sector or site specific odour exposure criteria. The OdourNet olfactometry laboratory in Amsterdam routinely performs these measurements and has recently been audited with the aim of including hedonic tone in its accreditation scope under ISO17025.

2005 Oct 15 The Barcelona branch of OdourNet is pleased to have won a contract to support the environmental department (Departament de Medi Ambient) of the Generalitat de Catalunya, the Catalan region government. OdourNet will provide sampling and odour analysis services, as well as odour impact modelling, in support of the introduction of a structured approach to managing odour impacts in Catalunya.

2005 Oct 14 A job opportunity is open to an odour consultant at the Amsterdam office. OdourNet is looking to expand its team of consultants, and is looking for an air pollution specialist who wants to develop into a senior consultant specialized in odour management. See job description.

2005 Ago 11 The report of the June 2005 Interlaboratory Comparison is now available. The test, organized by Olfatec, Germany, shows shows that many of the many participating laboratories fall short of attaining the quality required by the European EN13725 standard. 10 laboratories from 8 countries participated in the expanded RV-Plus test that allowed statistical evaluation of results on n-butanol reference material. Only two laboratories fully complied, and OdourNet is pleased that the laboratory of PRA OdourNet BV in Amsterdam, participant 56, was one of them. The UK laboratory complied on Accuracy only. The standard test, which only included 4 samples, attracted 46 participating laboratories. Only 17 of those produced results within the limits applied for the test. Both accredited OdourNet laboratories produced correct results for all four samples. The test reports are available upon request.

2005 July 01 The University of Milan commissions an Olfaktomat olfactometer. The new instrument, which can perform 4 measurements an hour with 6 panel members working simultaneously, will be installed at the Università degli Studi di Milano, Facultà di Medicina Veterinaria. Dipartimento di Scienze e Tecnologie Veterinarie per la Sicurezza Alimentare . The contact for the laboratory is: Drssa Marcella Guarino.

2004 Nov 16 OdourNet have assisted Thames Water in gaining a 2 year extension to the time allowed to achieve compliance to an abatement notice served on Mogden STW by the London Borough of Houndslow. The judgement to extend the notice was a result of a 7 day hearing at Feltham Magistrates Court at the beginning of September 2004.

2004 Nov 01 OdourNet is delighted that its Amsterdam office, PRA OdourNet BV, obtained an ISO9001 accreditation for its consultancy operations. This adds to the existing ISO17025 accreditation for the odour laboratory. Lloyds carried out the audits on November 1 st, 2004, with a new accreditation certificate as a result.

2004 October The annual audit of the quality system of the Amsterdam Olfaktolab was concluded with positive results. Our K077 calibration and L403 testing accreditations are continued as recognising the steady commitment to maintaining a high level of quality.