Air Fresheners and Incense, and Your Health (Part 3)
- Dr. Melissa Adams
- Jul 22
- 4 min read
Last week, we looked at Part 2 of a three part series concerning air fresheners and incense and whether or not they may have a negative impact on your health. This week, we are talking specifically about incense and will be covering a variety of topics including cancers, cardiovascular impacts, and children.
Incense and Cardiovascular Mortality
In a study looking at the data from just over 63,000 Chinese individuals living in Singapore, from 45 to 74 years old. They looked at the cardiovascular mortality in those who burned incense.
For individuals with no history of cardiovascular disease and who were currently using incense in their home, there was a 12% increase in cardiovascular mortality. Breaking down "cardiovascular mortality" into coronary heart disease and stroke, current users of incense had a 10% higher risk of coronary heart disease mortality and a 19% increase in stroke mortality. Gender does not seem to make a difference with these statistics, it is just the frequent, current use of incense in their life.
Of those who use incense nearly every day for 20 years or more, and do not smoke, about 8% of coronary heart disease deaths and about 15% of stroke deaths may be attributable to their use of incense. For those who are smokers, it may be about 7% of coronary heart disease deaths and 12% of stroke deaths.
If someone is a former or never user of incense, their risk of cardiovascular mortality is not increased, so ending your useage of incense may help to mitigate this risks. Incense may also impact various metabolic pathways within the body, including those that impact cholesterol, leptin, and others, indicating the benefit of stopping the use of incense may be felt throughout the body.
Incense and Cancer
This study looked into whether or not those who burn incense have an increased risk of cancers, specifically those which impact the lungs, nasopharynx (basically the back of your throat), etc.
They found that those who burn incense have a significant increased risk of having upper respiratory tract carcinomas. More specifically, those who have used incense for more than 40 years, have a 70% increase in their risk of upper respiratory tract cancers. There is a three fold increased risk for those who have never smoked and used incense during the day or at all times.
If someone is using incense a lot, they also have an increased risk of squamous cell carcinomas throughout the entire respiratory tract. This risk increase is correlated with the user's duration and intensity of their use of incense.
This study also briefly mentioned that incense may also increase the risk of childhood leukemias and brain tumors.
Incense and Children
One study which was looking at the body and where in the body the deposits from the incense, were located. For children, they often had higher pulmonary deposition, meaning, particulate matter from the incense was found in the lungs of children living in homes where incense was burned.
Another study looked at 8,293 Chinese children, aged 6-12 years old. In this study, they found that children from homes where incense was burned (even occasionally), had worse performance on executive functioning tests, compared to children from homes where incense was not burned (or was rarely burned). Frequent burning of incense was also associated with behavioral issues and other cognitive issues. These effects were worsened if the child was from a home where a parent was a smoker and/or parent(s) have low income.
Yet another study looked at incense burning and children's respiratory health, they looked at 4,041 children with an average age of 9 years old, and living in Hong Kong. They noted some sort of decreased lung function in all kids, boys and girls, as well as an increased incidence of bronchitis and broncholitis episodes. Boys in particular also had an increased incidence of pneumonia and wheezing.
According to this study, there may also be an increased risk of childhood leukemia and brain tumors, linked to the usage of incense in the child's home and other areas they frequent.
The very small size of the particulate matter (discussed in this study) can also be passed to a neonate through the umbilical cord. When these babies are born, they may experience a decrease in their head circumference and the boys may also experience lower birthweight. Additionally, they may experience delayed gross motor milestone achievements and early onset hyperactive behavior. It is thought this may occur due to those very small pieces of particulate matter decreasing the oxygen supplied to the developing baby's brain. When children are older, it is possible that incense may be a critical factor in the development of allergies and/or asthma.
Conclusion
Generally speaking, the potential negative health effects of incense increase the more someone uses it. Although incense can smell good, be used for religious reasons, mediation, in temples, etc it seems as though we need to be more aware of these potential negative health effects so we may make an informed decision before we use it.
Blog sponsored by One More Step Foundation
This is not medical advice, always ask a chiropractor if chiropractic care is appropriate for you, and your preferred healthcare provider before making dietary, supplement, or lifestyle changes.
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