Printed from smellbook.com/smells/plastic. This printout keeps the entry for Plastic itself: its description, reference card, Connections, questions, evidence, related smells, record details, states, names and citation. It leaves out your own notes, the map, the lists of paths, routes, stories and fragrance directions, and the lists headed “Also linked to” (other entries that share its place or material) and “Linked from”; they are on the page online. The entries this one links to are still printed under Connections and Related smells.
Categories and types group entries for browsing; they are editorial, not evidence. How smells are grouped.
A broad manufactured-material smell direction that can range from nearly neutral to distinctly synthetic.
Setting: material · manufactured. An editorial word for the kind of place or occasion the smell belongs to, not a smell word.
Plastic smells clean, faintly sweet and synthetic, ranging from almost neutral to distinctly sharp. EDITORIAL
Named in the VERIFIED claims about this smell: not a list of what it is made of, and not its cause.
This entry links to
Other entries that link to this one
Links SmellBook records for this entry: where you meet it, molecules, related smells and comparisons. EDITORIAL links are chosen by SmellBook editors and VERIFIED links come from VERIFIED claims. Nothing here is a ranking, and a molecule is not presented as the cause of the smell.
QUESTIONS ABOUT PLASTIC
Plastic smells clean, faintly sweet and synthetic, ranging from almost neutral to distinctly sharp. New plastic objects can carry a stronger, slightly harsh smell that tends to soften with time. Warm plastic becomes heavier and more noticeable. It is close to the smell of a new car interior, though flatter and simpler.
People meet it when opening new packaging, toys and household objects, inside car interiors, and around electronics. Many people link it with newness, shopping and unboxing.
Typical settings: new packaging, household object, car interior.
SmellBook links it to one place page: see it in Connections.
Material: Plastic.
One VERIFIED scientific claim from one published source is recorded for this entry: Volatiles emitted by plastic packaging films. This claim says only what its source supports, in the scope shown with it.
The scientific study behind this evidence is chemistry or emission work, not a study of how the smell is perceived.
2 molecules are named in this claim; see the evidence for the role the claim gives them. The molecules this claim names were detected or measured in the study. The claim does not say they shape the smell.
Plastic is intentionally broad because different polymers and additives can smell very different.
SmellBook records one written comparison with other smells: see it in Connections.
Words that are easy to mix up: Is fresh the same as clean?
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
Volatiles emitted by plastic packaging films
Pieces of plastic food-packaging film emitted material-specific volatile compounds: mostly branched alkanes and alkenes from polypropylene/polyamide, octane and aldehydes from polypropylene, and aldehydes and propanoic acid from polylactic acid.
Three packaging films screened by GC–MS, not by odour analysis; it does not cover plastics in general.
How this was found: Emissions or air measured. What a material, product or place releases into the air was measured, usually without assessing odour. Source: primary study; material-emission work.
Jahan Zaib Ashraf, Sandra Pati, Danial Fatchurrahman, Maria Luisa Amodio & Giancarlo Colelli
Frontiers in Sustainable Food Systems
DOI 10.3389/fsufs.2023.1178104Each molecule is named by the claim shown after it. These molecules were detected or measured in the study. About molecules in SmellBook
Links chosen by SmellBook editors, not a ranking.
Associations can vary strongly by person, place and culture.
PATHS FROM HERE
Each step is a relationship SmellBook editors recorded in the knowledge graph, named as it is published there. Paths are not ranked or personalised, and they do not mean the smells smell alike.
Each step is a molecule that a VERIFIED claim names for both smells, in whatever role the claims state. Sharing a molecule does not mean two smells smell alike.
MY SMELLBOOK · LOCAL ONLY
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MAP THIS SMELL
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WHERE THIS SMELL APPEARS
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FROM SMELLBOOK STORIES
Editorial pieces add place, memory and cultural context without changing this entry.
FOR RESEARCHERS AND EDITORS
Identity, revision history, corrections and how to cite Plastic.
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.
How this entry is identified and named, for citing it or matching it with other records.
SmellBook SB-0044 — Plasticsmellbook:smell:plastichttps://smellbook.com/smells/plasticSmellBook. (2026). Plastic (revision 4, 2026-10-06). SmellBook Public Atlas. smellbook:smell:plastic. https://smellbook.com/smells/plastic@misc{smellbook_plastic_r4,
author = {{SmellBook}},
title = {Plastic},
year = {2026},
note = {SmellBook Public Atlas, revision 4, 2026-10-06, smellbook:smell:plastic},
url = {https://smellbook.com/smells/plastic}
}TY - ENCYC ID - smellbook-plastic-r4 TI - Plastic AU - SmellBook T2 - SmellBook Public Atlas PY - 2026 DA - 2026/10/06 ET - revision 4 UR - https://smellbook.com/smells/plastic N1 - SB-0044; smellbook:smell:plastic; resolver https://smellbook.com/id/smell/plastic 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.
Plastic is intentionally broad because different polymers and additives can smell very different.
Other entries whose editors linked to Plastic:
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 ↗