Dozens of toxic and irritant chemicals found in sandalwood and agarwood incense by researchers, with some tests signalling the smoke could be more harmful than cigarettes
7:37PM BST 25 Aug 2015
Burning incense may need to come with a health warning after scientists found it can contain a wide range of dangerous chemicals, including some commonly found in cigarettes.
Researchers – associated with a Chinese tobacco firm - studied two types of incense and found their smoke contains irritants and toxic compounds.
The study compared smoke from incense with cigarette smoke Photo: PA
They tested incense scented with sandalwood and agarwood, two of the most popular types of incense on the market.
Tests on animal subjects suggested smoke from the incense could potentially change genetic material such as DNA, and therefore cause mutations.
But the scientists were unable to say definitively that incense is more dangerous than tobacco smoke because of the different ways the two products are consumed, said the study published in the journal Environmental Chemistry Letters.
Rong Zhou, of the South China University of Technology and the China Tobacco Guangdong Industrial Company, who led the research, said: “Clearly, there needs to be greater awareness and management of the health risks associated with burning incense in indoor environments.”
Burning of incense is an important part of observance in many Eastern religions, as well as the Roman Catholic Church and some Anglican denominations.
But the product also has a wider recreational use in aromatherapy, spiritualism and meditation, as well as to disguise bad odours in the home.
Samples have been found in excavations of ancient Egyptian sites.
The study said in its conclusions: “We showed that the particulate number and mass of four different incense smokes were dominated by ultrafine and fine particles, which may cause adverse health effects in indoor environments.
“Incense smoke particulate matter comprised many aromatic, irritant, and toxic compounds.”
In certain tests conducted by the team incense toxicity was “higher than for the reference cigarette sample with the same dose”.
It added: “However, we cannot simply conclude that incense smoke is more toxic than cigarette smoke because of differences in consumption styles of these products.
The study was the first to be conducted evaluating health risks associated with indoor use of the scented product.
During the burning process, particle matter is released into the air, which can be breathed in and trapped in the lungs, potentially causing inflammation.
Incense has previously been linked to the development of lung cancer, childhood leukaemia and brain tumours.
Four incense smoke samples examined during the research contained 64 compounds, scientists found.
A monk blows on incense during birthday celebration of exiled spiritual leader the Dalai Lama in Kathmandu in 2012
Most were not a significant threat to health but ingredients in two of the samples were known to be highly toxic, researchers said.
Source: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/science/11824105/Incense-may-need-a-health-warning-over-toxic-smoke-claims-research.html
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