I find that the smell from the mats that my Joann's sells gives me headaches. I have white mats. No odor. It must be 20+ years old. I did get a new one as a backup since the lines on the old one were getting blurry and the mat is just simply worn out. I flipped it over for a while, but the backside did not have lines. They were expensive...$75, but I got the last one on sale.