Does Your Breath Smell Like Rotten Eggs?

Who Knows What a Halimeter Is?

Bad breath is caused by volatile sulfur compounds or VSC’s that are produced by anaerobic bacteria in your mouth. These compounds are measured in parts per billion by an instrument called a Halimeter.  The way this instrument works is that you put the end of the tube into your mouth and breathe into it and it will show a digital reading. Readings between 80-140 ppb indicate normal breath.  These readings indicate how much sulfur you’re exhaling.  The higher the reading, the worse your breath is.  The higher the reading, the more the sulfur compounds you are exhaling and the more your breath will smell like rotten eggs or swamp gas.

Here are some Halimeter readings that you might find interesting:

• 200-300 ppb  indicates noticeable oral malodor
• 350-400 ppb would indicate noticeable oral malodor for anyone standing a couple of feet from you
• 500-700 ppb would be the same as above but the smell would be really bad
• Over 1000 your breath would linger throughout the room after you left
• Over 2000 – you’d probably blow up the machine and the room you were standing in, too.   Just kidding!

So you might wonder what level the human nose can detect VSC’s.  Would you be surprised to know that it’s as low as 3-8 parts per billion?  What do you think your breath reading is?

Bad Breath A Blast From the Past