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Posted by Boden on June 2, 2008, 5:58 pm
---MIKE--- wrote:
> Something died inside a wall in my finished basement. The smell is
> foul. It is not possible to get inside the wall. Is there anything I
> can do other than wait for the carcass to dry up? Spraying with
> Fabreeze helps for a while.
>
>
> ---MIKE---
>
>>>In the White Mountains of New Hampshire
>
> >> (44° 15' N - Elevation 1580')
>
I worked my way through college doing trade embalming. Consequently
I've smelled my share of unpleasant odors. If you search for autopsy or
mortuary deodorizers you'll find a number of enzyme based deodorants
that work quite well. Of course they need to be applied (injected) at
the site of the corpse to be effective. I once had a possum die in a
wall and was able to insert a trocar through the wall where the critter
was and inject an enzyme based solution and effectively neutralize the
odor with one of these materials.
Be a bit cautious spraying Febreeze. It is largely a cyclodextrin.
Cyclodextrins are synthetic sugar molecules that, instead of being
straight chain sugar molecules are circular. Look at it as a tiny sugar
based bagel. The material responsible for the odor becomes encapsulated
in the "bagel" so you don't smell it. However, it's still there in the
cyclodextrin molecule. Clever, isn't it.
Cyclodextrins were developed to "encapsulate" medications so that they
would not encounter a first pass metabolization in your liver (a
protective filter) and therefore be delivered to the desired sites in
greater concentrations. You may not want to afford odorants this same
delivery protection.
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