Julius Von Quaglio was the first chemist to add odorants into flammable gas as a safety mechanism. At the time (1880), a novel odorless fuel called "blue water gas" was replacing the naturally sulphur-containing "town gas', which smelled like rotten eggs without any additives. The chemical Von Quaglio chose, an organic sulfur compound called mercaptan or methanethiol, is still the most widely used additive; it is perfectly suited to the job because it burns at a lower temperature than hydrocarbons and we can smell it at extremely low concentrations.

Sadly, like many public safety measures, the odorization of gas was not standardized until after a high-profile disaster almost 50 years later. In 1937, a gas explosion in New London, Texas, killed nearly 300 people as well as destroying a large, nearly new, building. The event was covered by newsreels. In less than a year, Texas required all natural gas have malodorants added for safety, and national standards followed.