Many organic and inorganic substances, byproducts of human and microbial metabolism, are released in the person's sweat, breath, urine and other fluids and gases, giving off a strong smell. Odors could be caused by disease (for example, diabetes leads to sweetish odor; kidney: ammonia-like; TMAU: dead-fish, urine-like or fecal; liver: sweet, mousy and fishy odors), infection (e.g., blue-green pus caused by Pseudomonas aeruginosa: grape-like; TB: tar-like; Scrofula: stale beer, yellow fever: butcher's shop), metabolic disorders or temporary problems (issues in cholesterol metabolism: rubber-like; menstrual period: tinny), imbalance or overgrowth of gut microbiota, hormonal imbalance, allergies, diet and medications, prior exposures to strong smells or poor hygiene.
See also Aurametrix summaries for Acidic smell; Ammoniacal odor; Bad breath; Burning smell; Chemical odor; Fatty odor; Fecal odor; Fishy smell; Foot odor; Musty odor; Old book smell; Rancid butter odor; Salty odor; Sulfur odor; Sweetish odor; Vaginal odor; Wet dog odor.