The researchers wanted to find out what was causing the "cat urine" smell. Microorganisms are good at breaking down materials used in making a carpet. This process is called biodeterioration. Many of these organisms can produce various byproducts that smell awful. Using standard methods to isolate bacteria the researchers found bacteria growing in the material used in the carpet backing. They found bacteria that grow in oxygen (aerobes) and in the absence of oxygen (anaerobes). The bacteria that caused the carpet to smell produce butyric acid when they grow. This acid is a very weak acid and it won't cause damage to the carpet but it will cause the carpet to stink.
Since J. Martin was at the meeting I decided to talk with her in more detail. She mentioned that normally bacteria aren't a problem because they use a disinfectant in the backing material that will kill most bacteria. Unfortunately, these particular microorganisms are resistant to the disinfectant and are causing major problems for carpet manufacturers.
J. Martin and her colleagues have discussed the problem with the manufacturers of the carpet backing and there are no easy solutions for this particular problem. The difficulty is in the fact that the bacteria are contaminating the latex material used to make the carpet backing. Once the carpet fibers are sown to the carpet backing it is nearly impossible to get at those stinky microbes. If you add a different disinfectant to the latex manufacturing process you may affect the quality of the latex produced. The bacteria that cause most of the smell appear to be the anaerobes. Many anaerobes are killed by oxygen and we discussed maybe blowing air into the latex or stirring it to kill off the anaerobes. There are no solutions yet. However, once you know the cause solutions are only one idea away. The moral of the story. If your new carpet stinks like "cat urine" take it back or get your money back the smell is there to stay.
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