Reference point
Peel the film off a newly bought plastic item and smell the surface.
Do this before you read on. An entry only works when you have just smelled the thing.
Pungent, slightly sweet, with a clear chemical note and a waxy layer. It is strongest in the first few days, then fades.
This is the smell of an unfinished process: the additives in the plastic are still escaping from the material.
It is one of the newest smells in the history of human smell — only about a century old.
How to smell it
Smell it as soon as you peel the film, then leave the item in the air for a week and smell again. Most of it has gone. It is a way of watching a physical process directly with your nose.
Why this one is hard
Because “plastic smell” is really dozens of different smells depending on the type of plastic and additives. Calling them by one word hides that variety.
Don’t confuse with
This entry
New plastic
Household objects family
New plastic is pungent and faintly sweet; rubber has a clear sulphur note from vulcanisation. Sulphur is the telltale sign.
Scientific note
Pure plastic is almost odourless. The smell comes from additives: plasticisers, antioxidants, mould-release agents and unreacted residual monomer. They slowly diffuse to the surface and evaporate — a process called outgassing. Cheap plastic has more residual monomer, so its smell is stronger and lasts longer.
In Vietnamese life
The smell of new plastic goes with toys, household goods and new motorbikes in Vietnam. In many families it is common to leave the plastic film on a sofa or a TV remote — and it keeps that smell for years.