About Us
Contact Us
Council Lead Project
egroups
Library-Fact Sheets
Home Page
Media Releases
Newsletters
Q&A
Referral Lists
Reports
Site Map
Slide Shows-Films
Subscribe-Donate
Useful Links

Downside to Aromatherapy?

By Dr. Andrew Weil

It turns out that some aromatherapy candles emit such hazardous pollutants as acetone, benzene, lead and soot. Since these harmful substances can impair the quality of indoor air, you have to be cautious about the aromatherapy candles you purchase. The National Candle Association suggests that you protect yourself by buying beeswax candles, which are cleaner and safer than those made with paraffin wax (the fumes of which have caused kidney and bladder tumors in laboratory animals). Also, watch the wick. A wick that gets too long while a candle is burning may be releasing soot into the air (always keep wicks trimmed to 1/4 to 1/2 inch). If you have noticed sooty deposits in your house, scented candles may be at fault. To find out for sure, try this simple test [developed by Cathy Flanders]:

• Get a stack of thin, white plastic disposable plates.

• Set up the suspected candles in a confined space (like the bathroom) and make sure that any vents are closed.

• Light the candles and then surround them with the plates [avoiding any fire risk].

• Let the candles burn for an hour.

• If you see a black, sooty deposit on the plates, you can be sure that the candles are to blame for any soot you have noticed elsewhere in the house.

As much as possible, you should also make sure that candles are scented with natural essential oils rather than synthetic fragrances. This isn't always easy since candlemakers aren't required to list ingredients on their labels. You might also try scenting the air in other ways. You can evaporate essential oils in a small vaporizer or incense burner, or dilute essential oils with water and spray them from an atomizer.

www.drkoop.com/news/stories/october/candles_lead.html From Dr. Koop's Web site: "Long-Burning Candles Can Emit Unsafe Levels of Lead

For some general information about lead, go to:

http://www.ccohs.ca/products/databases/samples/cheminfo.txt Canadian Centre for Occupational Health and Safe-ty - Material Safety Data Sheet (MSDS) for lead metal.

Information about lead in layman's terms from BEES Environmental Health.

To see what the industry has to say, go to:

www.thomasregister.com/olc/atkinsandpearce/candwick.htm Atkins & Pearce, Inc. - Candle Wicking (the largest wicking material manufacturer in the world & a very prominent member of the NCA).

www.candles.org/questions.htm National Candle Association (NCA), USA. [Italicised excerpt follows]:

"Are candle wicks made of lead? The majority of wicks manufactured today in the U.S. are made of 100 percent cotton – with no metal core. Those few wicks with metal are typically zinc-core wicks. All of these wicks are safe.

Even though the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) determined in 1974 that lead-core wicks do not present a health hazard, the National Candle Association’s members voluntarily agreed to stop using lead wicks. Companies belonging to the National Candle Association make about 95 percent of the candles manufactured in the United States today.

It is possible that a small percentage of imported candles on the market today contain lead-core wicks. However, the National Candle Association and the Consumer Product Safety Commission have taken strong action to remove candles with lead-core wicks from store shelves. This will help ensure that all candles on the market today use safe wicks.

If a consumer is still worried, how can he or she tell whether a candle has a lead-core wick? A consumer can determine if a candle has a lead-core wick by using this simple test: Rub a piece of paper on the tip of an unused metal wick. A lead-core wick will leave a gray pencil-like mark, while zinc or tin will not. It is important for consumers to know that wicks made with cotton, paper, zinc, or non-metallic materials are safe."

Contents   Previous Item   Next Item