What makes the pages smell in a textbook?

Question

In a textbook, guidebook, et cetera, basically anything with the extra smooth pages and colored ink, what is it that causes the very strong odor you get when the book is opened?

Does the odor contain any VOCs or anything that might pose harm to human health, or is it innocuous?

Answer 1

the glue in the binder

Answer 2

A brand new book will retain the odor of the paper, the print and the adhesive that keeps the pages together. Like the stench of a newly painted room it will soon disappear. But I must, with tongue in cheek, admit that a bibliophobe's claim that reading is injurious to health is right up there with "the dog ate my homework."

Answer 3

A new textbook is likely the smell of its components - Ink, Glue, Paper, Coatings. An old textbook may have picked up odors of years of tobacco smoke, storage in a damp place, much handling with greasy fingers, and component deterioration.