How “safe” is it to burn candles? The truth about VOC’s and air quality
https://www.medpagetoday.com/popmedicine/dr-mike/110850?xid=nl_popmed_2024-06-28&mh=22c3cd8ebe0a923b5ca6e6e20f1222e0d0r&utm_source=Sailthru&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=PopMedicine_062824&utm_term=NL_Gen_Int_PopMedicine_Active
I will be the first to say that I used to burn candles constantly. My addiction? The Leaves scent from Bath and Body Works. Or Mahogany Teakwood. I had candles burning, wall plug in’s in every room, you name it, my house smelled like a candle factory. I was a Scentsy person prior to that. I liked a smell good house.
Back in 2022, I was exposed to mold in my office at work. And not the good kind of environmental mold. It was the yuck toxic kind of mold. My functional medicine provider told me to clear all chemicals out of my house that I could, as those were no good for me either. And she told me to buy a HEPA filter. So I did. And I was SHOCKED when I ran the HEPA filter in the same room as a burning candle. Air quality was in the 50’s-60’s. I blew out the candle and it took 3-4 hours for the air quality to return to the mid 80’s range. I never lit a candle in this house ever again.
What many of us do not know (and I didn’t know either), is that candles are made primarily of petroleum based waxes and scents. When we burn them, the release VOC’s, or volatile organic compounds, into the air. We are breathing these toxic substances and don’t even realize it. We just think our house smells good!
The article above discusses the risks of VOC’s from their potential cancer causing agents to hormone and endocrine disruptors. If you want your house to smell good, put a pot of water on the stove, with some cinnamon sticks and spices, or fruit rinds, and avoid the manufactured VOC products completely.
Fragrances and chemicals in all kinds of personal hygiene products, cleaning products and detergents are also extremely toxic. I went through and transitioned away from all the commercial brands several years ago and I can’t even stand being around people that wash their clothing in Tide, the smell is so overpowering and distinct I can detect it on some people walking in a parking lot 30 feet away. I can barely stand being within a few aisles of the cleaning / laundry supplies in grocery stores and big box stores. And these brands do not have to even disclose everything in their product as long as it is a proprietary formula. That is what happens when you regard everything as generally safe. Cumulatively we end up exposed to way more than our bodies can handle. And once you detox from these chemicals I’ve found people tend to have an extreme reaction to being exposed again.
Like with a cigarette smoker's house, I have always been able to tell a person burns candles by the residue everywhere in their home. Not all the wax is consumed by the flame. It solidifies on all the surfaces.