Scented candles are seen as the ultimate luxury. Not only do their heady fragrances help to give a home ambience, but you are, quite literally, burning money — it doesn’t get more indulgent than that.Candle manufacturers
However, in recent years, the tide has begun to turn against scented candles as we become increasingly worried about air pollution and its impact on our health.
More worryingly, research suggests that while the quality of air in the outside world is improving, inside our homes, it’s getting worse, thanks in part to our preoccupation with scented cleaning products, air fresheners, deodorants — and scented candles.
‘When scented candles are burned, they give off tiny particles, so
small that you could fit a thousand of them across a single human hair,’
explains Douglas Booker of National Air Quality Testing Services
(NAQTS).
The problem with particles this small is that they can get into the
bloodstream, and they have been associated with both short- and
long-term health problems, including asthma and cardiovascular disease.
‘But they have also been found in the brain, where they are associated with Alzheimer’s, and have been found in the placenta of pregnant women, and have been associated with low birth weights and birth defects.’
The way in which we use scented candles means that not only are we generating a lot of pollution in our homes, but we’re also trapping it there too.‘You tend to light them in small, enclosed spaces, such as bathrooms,’ says Booker, ‘and they’re often used in winter when windows are kept closed.’
Candles have traditionally been made from paraffin wax, derived from petroleum, but a number of brands have now started using what they refer to as ‘natural’ alternatives — such as beeswax or soy wax — which the manufacturers say result in a ‘cleaner’ burn.But are these more ‘natural’ candles really any better for you? And does it make a difference whether you’ve paid £4, or £40, for your candle?
To find out, we enlisted the help of NAQTS and asked them to test the levels of pollution given off by ten citrus-scented candles available at prices ranging from £3.99 to £47.We chose similarly fragranced candles to try to ensure that any differences in pollution they gave off were less likely to be down to them having different smells.
The candles were tested in a controlled laboratory environment by burning them for 40 minutes and constantly monitoring the concentration of pollution to give a final figure for the total particle emissions.
