The study explored how subjects from childhood (8-14 year, old) to eld
erly adulthood could identify the odors of 17 everyday products. Perfo
rmance at naming followed an inverted U-shaped course over age, best i
n young adults and poorest in children and elderly. A discrimination t
ask given to the adults revealed parallel age-related declines in abil
ity to name and to discriminate odors. Correct identification by edibi
lity exceeded that by name considerably. For dangerous household produ
cts, children achieved only 15% correct naming but 79% correct edibili
ty/inedibility. Scenting of dangerous household products, however, may
compromise the discriminability of these products from less harmful o
nes. ''Fresh''-scented hypochlorite bleach yielded significantly more
errors regarding its possible causticity than did unscented bleach. Su
ch modifications of products would seem to necessitate other compensat
ory changes to enhance discriminability and thereby maintain safety.