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Categories and types group entries for browsing; they are editorial, not evidence. How smells are grouped.
A cool metallic touch-and-smell experience associated with railings, transit and cold outdoor metal.
Its type is State because its name already describes a condition, such as wet, toasted or after rain. That is a way of grouping entries; it is different from the states listed for this entry, which record how a smell is met. See how smells are grouped.
Setting: material. An editorial word for the kind of place or occasion the smell belongs to, not a smell word.
A cold metal rail gives a sharp, faintly metallic impression, more felt than smelled, with a clean, mineral tang close to keys or loose change. EDITORIAL
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Links SmellBook records for this entry: where you meet it and related smells. EDITORIAL links are chosen by SmellBook editors. Nothing here is a ranking.
QUESTIONS ABOUT COLD METAL RAIL
A cold metal rail gives a sharp, faintly metallic impression, more felt than smelled, with a clean, mineral tang close to keys or loose change. On a frosty day the air around it feels crisp and thin, and the whole impression is bright, brief and slightly hard, the opposite of the soft warmth of wood or fabric.
It is met on stair rails, station barriers and handrails in winter, and on playground bars, gates and bicycle frames. Many people notice it on cold mornings outdoors, when bare hands grip a railing on the way to a platform or up a flight of steps.
Typical settings: stair rail, station, cold outdoor metal.
SmellBook links it to one place page: see it in Connections.
Material: Metal.
One VERIFIED scientific claim from one published source is recorded for this entry: The metallic smell of touched iron. This claim says only what its source supports, in the scope shown with it.
Cold Metal Rail is a perceptual state profile and does not claim that metal has one intrinsic odor.
Words that are easy to mix up: Is metallic the same as mineral?
No historical source or heritage record is linked to this entry yet.
Answers marked EDITORIAL are written by SmellBook editors to describe the experience and add no scientific fact. Answers marked VERIFIED point to claims on published sources, checked against each source's own summary where one was available (each claim's page says how); what each claim supports is in its own text and scope.
Scientific evidence · 1 claim
The metallic smell of touched iron
The authors report that the metallic smell noticed after touching iron tools or coins is a type of human body odour, linked to the breakdown of peroxides on the skin; rust, drinking water and blood containing ferrous ions cause a similar metallic odour.
Iron tools and coins handled by people; the source does not study railings or cold outdoor metal, so it applies to them only as touched iron, and the abstract names no single compound.
How this was found: Broad account. A broad statement about how an aroma forms, how it is studied or what a term means, rather than one measurement. Source: primary study.
Dietmar Glindemann, Andrea Dietrich, Hans-Joachim Staerk & Peter Kuschk
Angewandte Chemie International Edition
DOI 10.1002/anie.200602100Links chosen by SmellBook editors, not a ranking.
Associations can vary strongly by person, place and culture.
PATHS FROM HERE
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WHERE THIS SMELL APPEARS
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FOR RESEARCHERS AND EDITORS
Identity, revision history, corrections and how to cite Cold Metal Rail.
CULTURAL: This entry's associations depend on context, language, memory or culture; its description and smell words are editorial. It says nothing about research or historical evidence; evidence for this entry is shown separately: VERIFIED.
A state says how an entry is met, such as wet, aged or roasted. It does not create a new smell, and it adds no scientific fact by itself: states marked EDITORIAL come from the entry's own records, and only those marked VERIFIED are reported by a VERIFIED claim.
How this entry is identified and named, for citing it or matching it with other records.
SmellBook SB-0138 — Cold Metal Railsmellbook:smell:cold-metal-railhttps://smellbook.com/smells/cold-metal-railSmellBook. (2026). Cold Metal Rail (revision 4, 2026-10-06). SmellBook Public Atlas. smellbook:smell:cold-metal-rail. https://smellbook.com/smells/cold-metal-rail@misc{smellbook_cold_metal_rail_r4,
author = {{SmellBook}},
title = {Cold Metal Rail},
year = {2026},
note = {SmellBook Public Atlas, revision 4, 2026-10-06, smellbook:smell:cold-metal-rail},
url = {https://smellbook.com/smells/cold-metal-rail}
}TY - ENCYC ID - smellbook-cold-metal-rail-r4 TI - Cold Metal Rail AU - SmellBook T2 - SmellBook Public Atlas PY - 2026 DA - 2026/10/06 ET - revision 4 UR - https://smellbook.com/smells/cold-metal-rail N1 - SB-0138; smellbook:smell:cold-metal-rail; resolver https://smellbook.com/id/smell/cold-metal-rail ER -
The citation names revision 4 of 2026-10-06, so a reader can tell exactly which version was cited. Citing records what was read; it does not grant a licence.
Cold Metal Rail is a perceptual state profile and does not claim that metal has one intrinsic odor.
Other entries whose editors linked to Cold Metal Rail:
Editorial description expanded to answer what it smells like and where you meet it; independently reviewed.
Created 2026-09-22 · Updated 2026-10-06Dataset history In the SmellBook dataset since the first of three dataset releases of 2026-09-30; changed in the first of two dataset releases of 2026-10-05 (descriptors).
No correction notices published for this entry. Corrections policyEVIDENCE MATTERS
SmellBook separates cultural association, community perception, verified evidence, prediction and experimental relationships rather than presenting them as the same thing. Read the evidence guide ↗ See the evidence coverage report ↗