The day I learned what that weird smell in the core room actually was

Laura Gibson · 2026-03-27T05:00:07.253125+00:00

For about six months at the old Trenton plant, I thought the sharp smell in our core room was just a normal part of the binder mix. My buddy Carl finally asked why I never wore a respirator when handling the cold-box cores. Turns out, that wasn't the binder smell, it was the amine gas from a tiny leak in the manifold I'd been ignoring. Who else has had a 'smell check' moment that turned out to be a real problem?

nancythomas6mo ago

That Trenton plant always had weird smells though.

10

victorhill6mo ago

Honestly, the "weird smell" at Trenton being normal tracks. Ngl, I'm picturing a manager telling you the amine headache is just part of the company spirit. Like, "That's the smell of job security, son, now get back in there." Classic plant life, where a deadly leak just gets filed under 'local color'.

7

jesse_green556mo ago

My uncle worked at a paper mill and said the rotten egg smell everyone joked about was actually a dangerous hydrogen sulfide leak.

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