Salton Sea Odor Advisory: Smell Rotten Eggs? It's Not Your Imagination

SALTON SEA, CA – If you're out and about in the Coachella Valley and smell something a little off – perhaps like rotten eggs – don't be alarmed. It's just the Salton Sea at it again.

"The South Coast Air Quality Management District has issued an odor advisory today for the Coachella Valley due to elevated levels of a gas that smells like rotten eggs," the agency said in a news release Tuesday. "That gas – hydrogen sulfide – is associated with natural processes occurring in the Salton Sea."

An SCAQMD monitoring station immediately downwind of the Salton Sea detected hydrogen sulfide concentrations at 62 parts per billion Tuesday morning, more than double the state standard of 30 parts per billion. Concentrations of 42 parts per billion were also detected at a monitoring station in Mecca.

"At that level, most individuals can smell the odor and some may experience symptoms such as headaches and nausea," SCAQMD said.

However, SCAQMD says no long-term health effects should be expected in connection with those symptoms and that the odor can be detected even at extremely low concentrations.

The gas may increase with shifting winds, particularly in the early mornings and late afternoons of the summer months, according to SCAQMD.

–Patch file photo by Renee Schiavone / City News Service contributed to this report