TikTok's gas sniffing trend, explained: Covid-19 or government conspiracy?

Think back to the last time you were at a gas station: Could you actually smell any gas?

TikTokkers are questioning what happened to gasoline's once strong smell, and the answers they've come up with include possible Covid-19 diagnosis or, um — a government conspiracy to drive up gas prices. Let us explain.

It all started with user @youngvec's video, where he wondered why gas hadn't really been smelling so gassy lately. The video was posted about a week ago, and has since reached 8.4 million views and inspired others to scratch their own chins.

Credit: Screenshot: TikTok/@youngvec

Credit: Screenshot: TikTok/@youngvec

On June 2, Abbie Richards noticed that many other users had picked up on the question, and were subsequently smelling gas in their own time to see if the smell had, indeed, disappeared.

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Other TikTokkers quickly offered their theories as to why in the original video's comments, stitches, or in new videos. One of the most popular responses questions whether even more people have caught Covid-19 than previously thought, which may be affecting all of our senses of smell.

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But the more wild (and possibly concerning theory) is that the new gas smell comes from the gas being reformulated to have worse fuel efficiency, driving gas prices up and making the government more money. In @blackfoxfreedom's video, he suggests that there is up to 50 percent ethanol in gas, and possibly "other stuff as well, maybe even [water]."

Credit: Screenshot: TikTok/@blackfoxfreedom

There is an element of truth to the idea that our gas has been reformulated.

On June 3, ABC News reported that the Biden administration had set new requirements to "increase the amount of ethanol that must be blended into the nation's gasoline supply." This was enacted in response to an increased demand for gasoline nationwide, after the previous year had seen a sharp decrease in demand due to the pandemic.

While there is now more ethanol in gas, it's not meant to drive gas prices up. In fact, increased ethanol is actually a measure usually taken to bring gas prices down, according to reports.

As Digital Trends put it, "adding ethanol reduces the tendency of low-grade gasoline to detonate, enabling our national fleet to run on crappier gas." ABC News also reported that the Renewable Fuels Association agreed that the new ethanol requirements would help lower gas prices.

So, gas really might not be gassing the same way these days, and that very well could be a result of the soon-to-be increased ethanol levels (which is actually usually about 10 percent of your gas, not 50 percent, according to the ABC News report).

But please, maybe just take our word for it and try not to sniff too much gas at your next station visit — it could lead to some pretty unpleasant health issues, and nobody wants to deal with that just for the sake of a TikTok trend.