You’ll have seen some scary headlines concerning the hidden risks of scented candles — together with these claiming that sure sorts (notably candles product of paraffin wax) are “poisonous” and may launch dangerous, cancer-causing chemical compounds into the air.
However whereas scented candles do produce varied vapors and particles that may be unsafe to inhale at excessive doses, analysis means that with typical use, the dose you get is much under what is taken into account dangerous to your well being. And in accordance with consultants, there isn’t a motive to assume that occasional candle-burning will likely be harmful.
In a single key peer-reviewed examine printed in 2014, for example, researchers burned a scented paraffin candle in rooms of varied sizes — from the equal of a small rest room measuring 6 by 6 by 9 toes, to a lounge measuring 15 by 15 by 9 toes — and used particular devices to measure what was launched into the air and lingered there. They discovered that whereas some doubtlessly cancer-causing chemical compounds, like benzene and formaldehyde, had been produced, the very best measured ranges after 4 hours of steady burning had been lower than half as excessive because the really useful indoor air-quality limits set by the World Well being Group. (This was true even within the small loos.) The best ranges additionally fell throughout the vary of what’s thought of typical indoor air concentrations of the chemical compounds, too.
This led the examine authors to conclude that “beneath regular circumstances of use, scented candles don’t pose recognized well being dangers to the patron.” (It’s necessary to notice that whereas this examine’s conclusion is per others, few research have regarded into the well being results from burning scented candles typically. And most, together with this one, had been carried out by researchers affiliated with the candle trade. However unbiased researchers have mentioned that the findings are stable.)
When candles burn, they launch chemical compounds in “comparatively trivial concentrations,” mentioned Pamela Dalton, an odor notion and irritation researcher on the Monell Chemical Senses Heart in Philadelphia. Individuals who stroll out onto a busy metropolis avenue will inhale larger ranges of probably poisonous chemical compounds simply from automobile exhaust, she mentioned.
And the quantity of odor-causing particles produced typically are on the order of some components per million and even components per billion, she added, which is the equal of pouring a teaspoon’s value of a chemical into an Olympic-sized swimming pool.
Nikaeta Sadekar, a respiratory toxicologist with the nonprofit Analysis Institute for Perfume Supplies, agreed. Publicity to chemical compounds emitted by scented candles “is so low that they pose no vital threat to human well being,” she mentioned. “Even the very best customers of scented candles and different fragranced merchandise should not placing themselves at any considerable threat of hurt.”
In accordance with Dr. Dalton, people can odor fragrances at very, very low concentrations, which could make them overestimate their potential dangers. “We’ve been instructed for a really very long time that we’re on the low finish of the animal kingdom when it comes to having the ability to detect odors. And in reality, that’s simply merely not true,” she mentioned. Since our noses are so delicate, we are able to usually odor issues within the air even when they’re barely there. “We odor one thing, it smells sturdy, and we simply robotically assume that the focus of these odorant molecules within the air round us, and what we’re respiratory represents a excessive focus. And fairly often that’s not the case,” she mentioned.
Nonetheless, the Nationwide Candle Affiliation says that if individuals need to reduce the quantity of soot launched into the air, they need to burn candles in well-ventilated areas which can be away from drafts and vents, preserve wicks trimmed to about ¼ inch and make it possible for the pool of wax is freed from particles.
Paraffin wax is constituted of petroleum byproducts, so if you happen to’re involved concerning the surroundings, take into account soy, stearin or beeswax candles as a substitute. Soy candles have additionally been proven to supply much less soot than paraffin candles, and a few individuals, together with these with bronchial asthma, could also be delicate or allergic to sure fragrances. Should you discover irritation when burning scented candles, akin to a runny nostril or sneezing, it’s possible you’ll need to cease or to burn unscented candles as a substitute, Dr. Dalton mentioned.
Melinda Wenner Moyer is a science journalist.