Salton Sea May Cause A Stink Monday: Odor Advisory

SALTON SEA, CA - You ready for it? A stench similar to rotten eggs was expected to rise out of the Salton Sea again Monday, meaning area residents may soon start to smell the not-so-lovely scent around town.

An odor advisory warning is posted through midnight, though "monsoonal wind flows from the southeast" could increase concentrations of the foul- smelling hydrogen sulfide gas through Tuesday, according to the South Coast Air Quality Management District.

An SCAQMD monitoring station immediately downwind of the Salton Sea detected hydrogen sulfide concentrations at 36 parts per billion Monday morning, while concentrations of 31 parts per billion were also detected at a monitoring station in Mecca. Those numbers just exceed the state standard of 30 parts per billion.

"The state standard for outdoor levels of hydrogen sulfide is 30 parts per billion averaged over one hour," the SCAQMD explained in the advisory. "At that level, most individuals can smell the odor and some may experience symptoms such as headaches and nausea. However, the symptoms associated with this level of exposure are temporary and do not cause any long-term health effects. Humans can detect hydrogen sulfide odors at extremely low concentrations, down to a few parts per billion."

Elevated levels of the gas are relatively common at the lake. The gas, associated with naturally occurring processes at the Salton Sea, may increase with shifting winds, particularly in the early mornings and late afternoons of the summer months, according to SCAQMD.

-- City News Service contributed to this report / Image via Shutterstock