The purpose of this study was to explore olfactory sensitivity of odors from injection molding processing. To do this, the experiment was carried out in an injection molding factory, and participants were exposed to the environment where odor-substances (Formaldehyde, Benzene, Toluene, Ethylbenzene, Xylene, Styrene) exist. In addition, we used the subjective scale using semantic adjectives as an olfactory sensitivity. As a result, the assessment structure of olfactory sensitivity was composed of eight factors (irritant, thermal, tense, unique, like-dislike, active, stable, masculine), and the main factor which was irritant characteristics explained 20% of the total olfactory sensibility. These results suggested that odors from injection molding processing would cause more negative emotional responses than the flavor which is mainly used in olfactory sensitivity. This study, as a basic study of the improvement in a factory environment for the efficiency of work, has limits in that it was conducted to the extent of identifying the olfactory sensitivity structure of those who were at a laboratory and who were exposed to the environment of odor substance induced in the injection molding processing. Therefore, for the method of removing malodorous substance, the effect of materials which can neutralize it, and the comparison of a direct performance in the environment where negative sensitivity structure exists, a series of studies which aim to improve the environment of injection molding factories, such as performance assessment in the environment of a factory and an office need to be conducted. It is expected that when these studies are put together, the improvement guidelines will be provided as a type that can maximize the effectiveness of work in the factory environment where injection molding processing is done.

Olfactory sensitivity exhibits daily fluctuations. Several studies have suggested that the olfactory system in insects is modulated by both biogenic amines and neuropeptides. However, molecular and neural mechanisms underlying olfactory modulation in the periphery remain unclear since neuronal circuits regulating olfactory sensitivity have not been identified. Here, we investigated the structure and function of these signaling pathways in the peripheral olfactory system of the American cockroach, Periplaneta americana, utilizing in situ hybridization, qRT-PCR, and electrophysiological approaches. We showed that tachykinin was co-localized with the octopamine receptor in antennal neurons located near the antennal nerves. In addition, the tachykinin receptor was found to be expressed in most of the olfactory receptor neurons in antennae. Functionally, the effects direct injection of tachykinin peptides, dsRNAs of tachykinin, tachykinin receptors, and octopamine receptors provided further support for the view that both octopamine and tachykinin modulate olfactory sensitivity. Taken together, these findings demonstrated that octopamine and tachykinin in antennal neurons are olfactory regulators in the periphery. We propose here the hypothesis that octopamine released from neurons in the brain regulates the release of tachykinin from the octopamine receptor neurons in antennae, which in turn modulates the olfactory sensitivity of olfactory receptor neurons, which house tachykinin receptors.