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Does smoking affect the sense of smell?
Anne, Sharon and Shiva
The 1986 National Geographic Smell Survey indicated that, of the people polled, smokers rated the intensity of androstenone, cloves, and gas as weaker than those of nonsmokers, while banana and musk were perceived as stronger by smokers. However, smokers and nonsmokers did not differ in their detection of the rose scent. Additionally, smokers were less confident in their own ability to detect odors. As expected, smokers’ responses to the survey demonstrated a lowered sensitivity to odor quality. Smokers found the odors rated as unpleasant by nonsmokers to be less offensive, and indicated a decreased appreciation of the pleasant odors, as well. (Gilbert and Wysocki, 1987).
In an additional study conducted at the University of Indiana, 100 students were asked to use their noses to locate their own shirts from an assortment of shirts. Seventy-four of the 100 students were able to correctly identify their own shirts by scent alone. However, of participants that smoked more than ten cigarettes per day, almost half were unable to correctly identify their own shirts (Lord and Kasprazak, 1989).
References
Gilbert, A. N. and C. J. Wysocki. 1987. The Smell Survey Results. National Geographic. October. pp. 514-525.
Lord, T. and Kasprzak, M. 1989. Identification of self through olfaction. Perceptual and Motor Skills. 69(1): 219-224.