to think that constantly breathing in the fumes from wax melts can’t be good for you?

[AngusDuck]

Constantly see people banging on about wax melts on Facebook at the moment, pushing their MLM products or home made stuff, and whilst I’m sure it’s lovely to have a nice fragrant home, surely it can’t be good for you to be constantly breathing that stuff in? I’m asthmatic and just the thought of being in an environment where I was always breathing in scented stuff makes me feel funny. So I might be being unreasonable, but just wondering if anyone feels the same way?

Can you offer up any studies that show they are toxic?

I live in a city so it’s not all fresh air and the scent of leaves

People have been using essential oils for centuries. Just googled and since ancient Egypt at least. I think saying we’re going to have a scandal because some people react badly to strong scents is a bit much tbh. I mean, very strong scents give me a migraine but so do very bright lights and Haribo.

Aren't essential oils supposed to be ok though? I ask because since I had kids I've stopped with candles but lately bought a diffuser and put in water and essential oil because I was told that is harmless.
Is it?

Never use wax melts or artificial scents but i do use pure essential oils alot, I see a lot of benefit for me and the children. When I do get a spray/bath product etc, I do think about the chemicals though, tbh, and they definitely don't do the job like essential oils.
And yes, I know that 'natural' and 'healthy' isn't the same thing - not all oils are good for you, and different people are different.
Just thinking that I am one of the people who love all the 'smelly' stuff, but also would hate breathing in chemicals.

They cause eczema on my daughter- the plug ins were worse but candles are the same

A few drops of lavender oil (or eucalyptus in an emergency) on a cotton wool ball on a radiator does the trick.
Fake strong smelling candles and melts are too much. As a migraine sufferer, I can pretty much guarantee they'll tip me over the edge if I'm on the brink of an attack.

Air freshener and plug ins give me headache but I burn soy wax melts and love them. I do open windows a lot too though!

My mum put a plug in in my lounge when I went on holiday. For a couple of weeks after I had a banging headache, I thought something was wrong with me. I took it out and I’m perfectly fine now. It had leaked and melted the paintwork too. Goodness knows what’s in them but I don’t think it’s good.

I've always worried about 'fake' candles and wax melts. I've read articles about some possibly being carcinogenic but how can we really know what is true?
I had a small candle from Ikea a while back and when lit, it really made me breathless.
I've just bought a bag of soya wax and some wicks and made my own candle with added essential oils I already owned. It took about 5 minutes plus hardening time.
The wax and 9 wicks cost just over £10 and I reused a candle jar I already had, so Cost wise it's pretty good as well

I do not use any fake scent for the house now, I especially hate plug in air fresheners! I open windows daily. We don't have any pets (apart from a hamster!) so don't really get any bad smells. It really can't be good to breathe in these things all the time!

Dh drives me mad because after a shower he sprays soooo much deodorant on himself and doesn't even open the window, it chokes me!

I'm asthmatic and have migraine. They are evil and pure essential oils are no better.

I've had to go off sick and have a course of steroids when someone at my workplace stuck a reed diffuser in her office.

I’ve seen people showing off their life ‘hack’ of putting fabric conditioner/unstoppables things in their oil burner
Surely that’s a recipe for disaster.

I used to be obsessed with Yankee candles and Scentsy wax burners, but they suddenly started giving me a headache so I stopped use of them all.

Breathing the fumes in cannot be good.

I'm rather fond of a wax melt or a smelly candle. But, I'm careful about when I light them and only for short periods.

Reading some of the comments about people getting sick and having headaches, I went through a terrible time of having a constant bonfire smell/irritation in my nose and suddenly realised it might be hairspray (I can't tolerate spray deodorant), so I started to hold my nose while putting it on and then leaving the room for a while.
Problem solved.
I probably should give up hairspray but I'm too vain

Burning anything is not good for indoor air quality - candles included. Paraffin based candles produce soot and highly fragranced candles containing limonene (think pine/citrus smells) can get turned into formaldehyde as it’s burnt, which is carcinogenic. Anything with a strong smell in your house (cleaning products, cosmetics etc) are probably loaded with VOCs (though they are not all bad) but reducing your exposure where you can and keeping your house naturally ventilated is a much healthier way to go. Put simply - if you can smell it, you are breathing it - it’s worth worrying about the amount of chemicals we introduce into our homes.

Essential oils can be pretty potent too, they're quite dangerous for pets. Lavender and tea tree oils have been shown to be endocrine disruptors, and can cause premature breast development in girls and boys [[https://factor.niehs.nih.gov/2019/9/feature/3-feature-lavender/index.htm]]

Urgh got the link code wrong... factor.niehs.nih.gov/2019/9/feature/3-feature-lavender/index.htm

Allergic to many chemical things. Vape, air fresheners, many deodorants (most sprayed things in general), perfume, some soap products, many cleaning products..... Can cope with nag champa brand regular scent joss sticks but I still need ventilation and to not be in the room it's in.

Makes the whole home cleaning thing a bit of a nuisance, specially trying to cover up the smells typical of living in a cramped space with too many family members.

Er, no thanks! Inhale chemicals into your lungs at every breath

Pretty sure we all do that every time we breathe

The concentration of these chemicals, if used in a home in regular amounts, would be so small they'd be no danger unless you were actually allergic to them. Even though our sense of smell can't compare to other animals, its still good enough to detect many chemicals well before they reach a dangerous level.

Glad to see I’m not the only one sensitive to these types of products. I’ve recently started replacing cleaning products with vinegar, lemon juice and baking soda mixes, amongst other things, and it’s been an absolute revelation to be able to spend a few hours cleaning my house without feeling tight chested and wheezy by the end of it.

To all the PP’s who mentioned plug ins - they are the devil’s work. I’ve also seen them damage paintwork when leaking - if it can damage paintwork, why would you want to breathe it in!?

Totally agree OP. I think there’s a general lack of understanding about how much fresh air (or “outside air” if you live in London) that we need in our homes. If your house is properly ventilated then you shouldn’t have a build up of odours that need masking with chemicals.

I've just googled it. Highly toxic!!

Even unscented paraffin candles give off nasties. I only ever burn unscented soya or beeswax ones and those not very often as they cost more. I use LED tea lights too.