gerv 

I was peddling up a hill on this morning's commute when it hit me. Maybe the bike trail valley where I had been biking has cleaner air, but when I hit the hill I noticed a pretty heavy smell of polution. Which from my past I remember as the smell of sulphur coming from factories.

This is pretty unusual for my town, which is basically an insurance and finance centre. It was a warm morning, little wind, so it wasn't blowing in from anywhere else... Closest I could figure is that everyone is now buying a heavily sulphur gasoline and the fumes weren't being cleaned up by the wind.

Or maybe my biking nose is getting a little too sensitive. No one at work even mentioned it.

Could it be more sulphur in the gasoline?

Wil Davis

Mmm, sounds weird! I'd keep well clear of the old dude who offers to trade his Magic Book for your violin (or bike, if you don't happen to have a fiddle…)

- Wil

cooker

Natural Gas pipeline leak?

gerv 

Cooker, I've smelled natural gas leaks before and they tend to disperse in a smaller area (unless they were really massive...). This seemed much broader and related to the heavy traffic. I read (from your neck of the woods...) an article that suggests sulphur in gasoline is a concern.

https://www.ene.gov.on.ca/envision/air/sig/faq.htm

Roody

You may have inadvertantly opened a Portal to Hell.

Cosmoline

I've noticed how much cars and trucks STINK since I got rid of mine. They produce an array of lethal gases.

dejinshathe

Vehicles climbing the hill put out more emissions as they work harder?

onetrack

Yes. Combined with a worn out catalytic converter. Good news is that the car fills up with that smell every time it goes up a hill.

Platy

It's possible. It could be that in years past the sulfur content of gas exceeded the standards and now it merely meets them. That's the idlest of speculations though, just a conjecture to explain your observation.

There's been more speculation that refineries have recently had to start processing heavier and more sour grades of crude. Very little hard information on the subject out there in public though.

bike2math

Did it smell like matches? Maybe someone was cooking meth nearby. They can park a car in a secluded spot and cook out of the trunk.

HardyWeinberg

sulfur smell comes from anoxic water or sewage leak too.

East Hill

That was my first thought...

East Hill

ModoVincere

Could've been an auto with a catalytic converter going bad. This will cause the hydrogen sulfide smell (rotten eggs).

KnhoJ

I'm shocked! 13 posts into a sulfurous exhaust thread, and no fart jokes?

The mechanics and modifiers I've asked about the wifemobile's recent pinging under boost say that everyone's having the same trouble recently. Even with everything working properly, high compression or turbo/super charged engines aren't running quite like they used to. Told her to only buy the best gas available, and keep her foot out of it. Cheaper than holes in the pistons.

jimisnowhere

Could've been the president out taking a hike.

Hugo Chavez

Nightshade

Has anyone in your area started burning coal?? I remember
as a kid the heavy sulpher smell of coal burning on cool
mornings.

gerv 

Hard to say. I think it was just a combination of 1)heavy traffic and 2) very little wind along the main drag. I also suspect that we have received a new batch of gasoline, with perhaps a tad less well refined. But that's suspicion, not fact.

wahoonc

Also being on a hill if someone stomps the accelerator you will get a decent wiff of the rotten eggs odor when the raw gas hits the catalytic converter, it will vary in amount from vehicle to vehicle.

Aaron

PDay

Are you near a marshy, swampy area? I dont know if you have those in Iowa.

pityr

A de-catted car will also make that smell. It can be quite obnoxious.