Burning incense at homes is a common practice among many cultures worldwide. Till today many religions have a custom of burning incense inside the house as a religious ceremony, purificatory rites etc. But, recently a group of scientists have found out that the smoke from the incense sticks can cause cancer. Breathing incense smokes is as bad as passive smoking and therefore have the same risk of cancer.
Incense Sticks and Its Composition
The term “Incense” refers to the entire substance composed, rather than only the odor it releases. The forms have changed as per the emerging advancement of technology. In ancient days “sage” and “cedar” were used as ingredients. Now the raw materials include camphor, different kinds of woods, flowers, resins, gums and various essential oils. The incense sticks are burnt to produce smoke and aroma. The incense is available in either stick form, granulated form or powdered form.
The Study
Staten’s Serum Institute (Copenhagen, Denmark) have studied on incense’s smoke and its effects on the human body. Researchers observed many incense users for prolonged duration and found out that prolonged use of incense has increased the risk of cancer in most of them. Study showed that about 30% of them developed upper respiratory cancer due to passive smoking.
While 40% developed lung cancer.They also found that when incense is burnt it gives out some carcinogenic substance. A person exposed to it regularly can develop upper respiratory cancer, as on nose, mouth, throat, etc,.Inside the mucous membrane the carcinogens bind together increasing the risk of cancer on the whole respiratory tract. However, the researches couldn’t find any correlation between lower respiratory cancer and the incense smoke.
