12.27.07
Candles Create Indoor Air Pollution
For a woman who loves her scented candles, tapers at dinner, little tea lights and never met an essential oil she didn’t like, it’s disturbing to learn that candles in the home needlessly put your lungs at risk. But it is true….candles DO emit toxic vapors, Virginia. Nor is it just a smidge of toxins that I might be willing to tolerate for the pleasure of the dancing flame and the feeling of a cozy hearth. Candles made from paraffin which is derived from petroleum (most candles on the market today) emit carcinogens such as xylene, tolulene, lead, phenol, benzene, mercury, acetone, and many other polysyllabic chemical names that don’t mean good things for your health. That’s just the wax. The wick has issues too: it might be lead or zinc and if it burns down below the level of the glass jar it could produce double the smoke of a regular candle.
Hmmm…candles smoke? Doinnnngggg. Oops. Hadn’t really ever stopped to think about that. Smoke = bad thing. It’s soot. It’s pollution. Why in the world would you willingly introduce this into your house once you thought about it? You really have reason to worry if your walls start showing soot and/or notice a thin film clinging to objects in the house. That means your candle soot level has jumped the track and is now polluting household-wide.
With asthma increasing 60% in the last two decades, the spotlight is turning on indoor air quality as one contributing factor. The EPA says indoor air is five times worse than outdoor air, even city air.
Happily, there is a way candle lovers can clean up their home air and enjoy their flames. Soy and beeswax candles are non-toxic alternatives to common candle wax. They cost more, but at least soy wax burns significantly longer so you make up for it on the back end. Fragrance free candles are the safest as those which add scent may contain toxic additives.
Keep in mind that deliciously scented incense is another pollutant that adds particulate matter into the air you breathe. Yes, it smells good. So does antifreeze. Unfortunately there isn’t a true healthy alternative to incense. I’ve seen some organic incense which is chemical free, prepared under ideal conditions, and has every good intent… yet it still winds up in your lungs.
