You've been there before: you've cut your finger chopping vegetables or fallen and skinned your knee on the sidewalk, drawing blood from a wound that needs disinfecting and bandaging. As you go into nurse mode, you notice a distinct odor. Is that metal?
There are a few reasons you may be smelling that "copper pennies" or iron scent from your blood. So let's talk about them.
That Metallic Smell? It's Not Your Blood (Technically).
Don't worry, the metallic scent (and yes, taste) of blood is a common experience. Often described as smelling like iron, this sensory sensation is linked to the presence of hemoglobin, an iron-rich protein.
The body absorbs iron from food, or supplements, through the cells in the gastrointestinal tract, storing it in the liver as ferritin. When the body needs iron to make new red blood cells, it releases it from the liver. And 'round and 'round it goes!
Interestingly, though, it's not technically iron you're smelling when you cut your finger: you're actually smelling a chemical reaction! Scientifically speaking, it's the moment the iron in your blood meets the oxygen in our air that a metallic smell is produced. And of course, the more blood that's present, the more intense that distinct, telltale scent becomes.
