Question from Josh
I haven’t read your latest book “Toxic Free” but in “Home Safe Home” you’ve written about candles but not incense. Have you investigated incense burning and have you ever spoken about it?
Debra’s Answer
I investigated incense many years ago but haven’t written about it in a long time.
Basically, anything you burn produces combustion by-products, which is a combination of toxic gasses and particles. The more completely it burns, the fewer the combustion by-products and the safer it is to breathe.
An example is firewood. Freshly-cut firewood smokes a lot when it burns, “seasoned” firewood smokes very little.
Any kind of smoke is harmful to breathe.
With incense, the point is that it smokes, so there would be combustion by-products that are harmful. Would it be less because it’s natural? Well, tobacco is natural and breathing tobacco smoke causes cancer.
That was my logic in the past. Now we have studies.
Hi Debra
Within my post about organic and non toxic ( really organic and not a catch phrase) air freshners,incence,etc above, it escaped my mind to ask you also about products to mop the all tiled floors we have throughout the house
We realised that many of the products from citrus ( EG citrus solve,and other ones,ARE NOT ORGANIC,therefore we are spreadind tru the mopping,PESTICIDES,FERTILIZERS,and whatever other toxic junk the products would have in their formula
Please help
Thanks
Out of ” desperation”, I bought some product from Lowes which has enzymes in it BUT NOT A LIST OF INGREDIENTS,as it is targeted to carpets,urine on it,etc
So,we are not using it anylonger
I just use liquid soap and water to wash my tile floors. Dr Bronner’s—sold at every natural food store—is organic.
I’m very interested in the potentially toxic effects of incence burning in Churches—many congregants report adverse effects.
Some churches nowadays report that they are burning “smoke-less incense”, claiming that if anyone has adverse effects from this, it’s “all in the mind”.
But I can find very little information anywhere regarding exactly what comes out of smoke-less incense. However, I do find a few indications that the smoke-less products are still combustible, and any form of combustion still produces potentially noxious products. Second, they do contain artificial fragrances (sometimes natural—ie not artificial) and those artificial fragrances themselves are potentially toxic chemicals.
So, I would ask, are these “safe” options really entirely safe? Or does anything that burns have the potential for side effects
Thanks for yor thoughts.
COMMENT FROM DEBRA:
This is a difficult question to answer. I can’t even find a standard definition of “smokeless incense.”
So far I’ve found two definitions.
One is a sea salt blend that contains dried herbs and oils. When burned, it gives off less smoke than regular incense.
The other is an incense that burns hotter, and thus produces less smoke.
Ordinary incense is made up of aromatic plant materials that release fragrant smoke when burned. These materials are often combined with essential oil for added fragrance.
Incense is typically divided into two types:
Direct-burning incense is lit with a flame and then blown out, leaving smoldering ember that produces smoke and releases fragrance. This is often a paste formed around a bamboo stick or a cone shape.
Indirect-burning incense requires a separate heat source.
Since there really is no information online and even the businesses I called couldn’t tell me anything, here are my thoughts…
I immediately thought of smokeless cigarettes.” While they seem harmless at first glance, a 2012 study found that e-cigarettes DO harm lung function. And I would think that smokeless incense might be the same.
Also, i think you are right that artificial fragrance oils are probably used in the making of at least some incense. And I don’t know what labeling regulations exist, if any, that would affect how this is noted on the label.
When I read that one type of smokeless incense “burns hotter” and so produces less smoke, that reminded me of wood. Green wood that contains more moisture produces a lot of smoke, which is why it’s best to burn “seasoned” wood that is dried out. The dryer the wood, the hotter the burn, as well as less smoke.
Everything that burns produces combusion by-products to one degree or another. I don’t see how incense can function as incense without burning, as the definition of incense is “a substance that is burned for the sweet fragrance it produces.”
I personally don’t burn incense and avoid combustion by-products wherever I can.
In addition to combustion particles, there is the added issue of fragrances, which nowadays are made of toxic chemicals.
Although a yoga teacher, I never burn incense in my classes because deep breathing is an important part of the health benefits, and the “fragrance” of the incense lingers long after the smoke is gone, and negatively affects anyone with chemical senstivities. Although incense has been used throughout the millenia to deepen the ability to focus and meditate, it now seems to be more of a detriment. Thanks for adding your knowledge to this issue.
Becca Chopra, author of The Chakra Diaries
http://www.thechakras.org