Mercaptan is also known as methanethiol and is a harmless but pungent-smelling gas which has been described as having the stench of rotting cabbages or smelly socks.

Mercaptan, otherwise known as methanethiol, has a chemical formula of CH3SH. Methane enthusiasts will recognize this as the formula for methane (CH4) with an added sulfur atom.

Methyl mercaptan is a gas we produce naturally in our bodies when we eat foods like asparagus – which explains why the vegetable has such a distinctive effect on the smell of urine.

Fossil Fuels Mercaptans in Methane Leak Make Porter Ranch Residents Sick, and Fearful Little research has been done on the lasting impact of mercaptans, the chemical regulators say has caused ...

Dr. Mary McIntyre, epidemiologist for the Alabama Department of Public Health, went with a team of experts to Eight Mile in 2012 to report on health complaints from the mercaptan spill.

Mercaptans, broadly, are gases that contain sulfur that are used to make natural gas pungent. Arroyo said people can smell the compounds even in amounts so small that monitors cannot pick it up.