Huge Swath of France Smells Like Rotten Eggs

No, not permanently
By Kate Seamons,  Newser Staff
Posted Jan 22, 2013 8:06 AM CST
Huge Swath of France Smells Like Rotten Eggs
   (Shutterstock)

Insert Pepé Le Pew joke here: The northwestern part of France currently smells like rotten eggs, reports Reuters. The bizarre aroma is the result of a non-lethal leak of the gas Mercaptan at a chemicals factory about 75 miles northwest of Paris. Though the leak occurred yesterday, winds carried the odor all the way to the City of Lights early today, leading a mass of Parisians to call authorities. Explains a director at the plant, which expects to plug the leak today, "It smells unpleasant because it's a gas we use to give an odor to natural gas." (More France stories.)

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