Incense, sparklers and cigarettes are significant contributors to indoor benzene and particle levels

Abstract

Introduction. The increased use of incense, magic candles and other flameless products often produces indoor pollutants that may represent a health risk for humans. Today, in fact, incense and air fresheners are used inside homes as well as in public places including stores, shopping malls and places of worship. As a source of indoor contamination, the impact of smoke, incense and sparklers on human health cannot be ignored.

Aim. In the present work, we report the results of an emission study regarding particles (PM10 and particle number concentration, PNC) and benzene, produced by various incense sticks and sparklers.

Results and discussion.The results obtained for benzene, PM10 and PNC, showed a strong negative influence on air quality when these products were used indoors. Various incense sticks gave completely different benzene results: from a small increase of the benzene concentration in the air, just slightly above the background levels of ambient air, to very high concentrations, of more than 200 μg/m3 of benzene in the test room after the incense sticks had been tested.