Smells Like Rotten Eggs — What To Do?

The foul egg smell in your house may show a severe problem such as sewer gas or natural gas leakage.

Smells Like Rotten Eggs — What to do? H2S present in drinking water gives foul eggs smell, so ask a certified laboratory to test your water. Gas leakage causes the house to smell, so call the gas company to check any leakage source. Sulfur burps are the primary reason for foul breath. So avoid beer and high-protein foods.

There are many other causes of egg smell in the house, along with their solutions. Read more to find yours!

What Chemical Makes The Water Smell Like Eggs?

The primary reason for your water smelling like eggs is because of sulfur bacteria and hydrogen sulfide gas. There are known to be 316 chemicals present in drinking water across the United States. The presence of these chemicals in your water can get it seriously contaminated. So it is recommended to call your health department or your building’s water supplier. However, if the smell is faint, then the water is safe to drink.

Hydrogen sulfide or H2S is a chemical compound and a chalcogen hydride gas. It’s colorless with a rotten eggs odor. It’s flammable, poisonous, and water and alcohol soluble. Therefore, it sits in the water supply system of many buildings and causes it to stink. In extreme cases, the H2S gas can corrode several metals and replaces the shiny surfaces of plumbing fixtures and silverware with black stains. It occurs by chemical reactions in the water heaters, natural chemical reactions, and “Sulfur Bacteria” in the well or groundwater.

Sulfur bacteria can help the Iron bacteria grow and cause you various gastrointestinal illnesses such as stomach cramps or diarrhea. However, this bacteria’s impact is not as strong as hydrogen sulfide, which assuredly needs treatment on detection. Sulfur can produce slime of grey, black, white, or reddish-brown color. And this slime can clog the irrigation systems, wells, and plumbing fixtures.

What to do about this? First, figure out whether the egg smell is coming from your hot water or cold water. If it’s coming from a boiling water faucet, then hydrogen sulfide probably reacts with your water inside the water heater. So call a certified boiler inspector to help you with the issue. However, if it’s the cold water that smells like eggs, then sulfur bacteria has invaded your water softener. Changing the softener can get rid of this issue.

Why Does My House Smell Like Eggs?

A foul egg smell in your house is linked to various causes. Some of which are natural gas leakage, underground sewer leakage, forgotten Easter eggs, electrical components, drain leakage, sulfur in your well water, and rotten foods.

Natural Gas Leakage: Because it’s colorless and odorless, a foul-smelling gas, “Mercaptan (CH4S)” is mixed with natural gas. The logic behind this is that Mercaptan is an odorant that helps to detect gas leakage. It occurs naturally in the brain, blood, plant tissues, animal feces, and foods like cheese and nuts. Natural gas leakage is a dangerous condition; better run out of your house or go in the safe zone. Call your gas provider company to fix this issue immediately.

Sewer Gas Leakage: If the rotten eggs smell is coming from your kitchen or bathroom’s drain, there may be a severe sewer gas leakage. All drain lines contain a U-shaped pipe having water in it. This pipe with water prevents the sewer gases from coming up. But if there are unused bathrooms/toilets and sinks in your house, then the water in the U-shaped pipe must have evaporated. And this allowed the foul smell to come up and roam your house. That’s why you smell rotten eggs from your kitchen and bathroom drain that are not used often. So, running the water in these drains should refill the u-shaped pipe and abolish the egg smell.

Rotten and Forgotten Food: Some rotten foods like broccoli or meat, along with Easter eggs, can also cause a musty egg smell in your house. Please search for spoiled foods and make sure to discard them as soon as possible. Expired eggs give off a decomposing smell which is very similar to hydrogen sulfide gas (H2S). So, if there isn’t any other problem related to this egg smell, then probably it’s rotten food somewhere inside your house.

Sulfur Water: If your “Well Water” is smelly, then perhaps there is sulfur in your “well water.” These bacteria produce slime, which clogs the wells, and that’s why the water becomes smelly. Anyway, it doesn’t cause any health threat to humans but may only affect the stomach. For safety, buy a new water softener and get rid of the old one along with sulfur.

Electrical System: If you smell the foul egg smell of an electric outlet, then your electrical system needs a retouch. When the plastic components inside the outlet plate burn, it gives off a terrible smell, just like rotten eggs. The situation can become a severe danger if not treated wisely, so turn off the circuit breaker and call the electrician to fix the lingering issue.

Old Anode Rod: If your hot water faucet is smelling like eggs, then it’s likely coming from an old Anode rod. Every water heater contains Anode rods that need to be replaced every five years or so. If your heater’s rods are older than five years, then they may be exposed to corrosion. Hence, replacing it with brand new rods solves the foul smell.

Why Does My House Smell Like Eggs When It’s Raining?

Sewers comprise drainage, moisture, and human waste, which of course, releases a stinky smell. If any foul smell is reaching your nose when it’s raining, be alert! It is sewer gas which has escaped into your house.

Sewer gas contains gases like methane, hydrogen sulfide, ammonia, and carbon dioxide. Sewer gas is not so hazardous, but the gases it contains may react dangerously to a human’s body. Inhaling this gas can harm you, which is why underground systems have sewer traps to prevent gas leakage.

The rainwater has to go somewhere when it is raining. And it usually finds the lowest point to go into, such as a gutter or tank. When filled up with water, these lowest spaces cause the sewer gases to come out and stretch all over the place. These foul gas may also have released from the cracked pipes into your house.

If you’ve found the lead, then don’t fix it yourself, as there could be hazardous chemicals present. So, address this problem to a plumbing company.

Why Do I Keep Smelling Foul Odors?

Smelling foul odors like rotten eggs have many reasons. It is maybe because your nose is swift enough to smell everything, and we know this condition as Peripheral Phantosmia. Another reason for your smelling odors may be that your brain has a condition known as Central Phantosmia.

However, nasal or nose-related problem “Phantosmia” is quite well known. It is an olfactory hallucination in which you smell the odors that aren’t present near you. These odors may be enjoyable or disgusting and vary from person to person. It can occur after a head injury or respiratory infection in one or both nostrils. The phantom odor may always be there or come and go. Brain tumors, inflamed sinuses, and Parkinson’s disease can also cause your nose to smell these spectral odors.

Why Does My Breath Smell Like Eggs?

Sulfur burps are the reason that your breath is smelling bad. Eating or drinking in haste can make gases enter via the mouth and rove in your stomach. Other reasons include smoke, chewing gum, drinking beer or carbonated beverages, and high-protein foods. These reasons cause the gas to go into the abdomen and then burped back up.

Treatment of this issue is to drink fluids such as water, green or herbal tea, a small spoon of baking soda in water, a spoon of apple cider vinegar in water, manuka honey, and more.

FAQs

Can foul-smelling gas be a sign of cancer? Yes, it’s a sign of colon cancer. Because of tumors, the gases can be blocked and build-up in the stomach. The primary symptom is when medication-change won’t solve this issue.

What does nasty smelling gas mean? Common causes of foul-smell include high-fiber foods, constipation, food intolerance, and certain medications and antibiotics. However, more severe causes include colon cancer and infections and bacteria in the digestive tract.

Does boiling water get rid of the sulfur smell? Yes, it can, as the hydrogen sulfide gas may cause the water heater to give an egg-like smell. So, recurrent use of the boiler may get rid of the odor.

Can Sewer Gas kill you? Yes. The primary component of sewer gas is the hydrogen sulfide. And Research shows it’s toxic. It can damage the oxygen system of a human being and can cause death.

What would cause a person to smell like rotten eggs? Eating excessive amounts of red meat and not correctly digesting it can cause a person to smell like eggs. And it’s because of the sulfurous odor produced in the abdomen.