Help!!! In a panic about burning incense!!!

[SingleSweetie]

DH and I bought a lovely incense stick holder during a trip to a wildlife park overseas. Since then, our daughters have loved choosing the sticks for this, and we probably burn one or two sticks every couple of days. Sometimes one a day.

I had no idea how dangerous these are to our health, and I’ve just read something which has alerted me to this. I’m in such a panic over what damage I may have done to my children! 😢😢

Typo. Should say "and"
Sorry about your husband but very much doubt it was caused by an incense stick in a window

Lol
Indeed. 😂

Oh absolutely not, but the "zero things to worry about" is extremely desirable right now 🙏🏻

More dangerous to pets but has been said, just open a window. Hasn't harmed billions of Asians throughout the years.

The amount of sprays , bleaches cleaning products we literally spray all around our homes will be more of a problem than anything else. Everything is a pollutant and not good for our health but you really need to be realistic about daily living

Nicotine is not the part of cigarette smoke that causes harm. It's all the other stuff like carbon monoxide and particulate matter and VOCs, all of which are there in any smoke.

Fire is a powerful catalyst that causes substances to chuck out thousands of new compounds, many of them harmful to our health. The smoke from every fire is different, depending not only on what is being burnt but environmental factors like moisture and air flow. Some smoke e.g. a plastic fire, will kill you quickly. Other smoke, e.g. a wood fire or cigarettes, will kill you slowly. Even gas stoves, which burn very 'cleanly', give off a certain amount of toxic substances.

Tobacco smoke contains tobacco-specific nitrosamines which, as their name suggests are only found in tobacco. But these are just one of about 70 carcinogens that have so far been found, most of which are also present in wood smoke. There will also be different specific toxicants in wood smoke depending on the species being burnt. Tobacco smoke is not particularly special. It causes a huge number of deaths because people forcefully and directly inhale it many times a day, getting a massive dose of toxic chemicals each time.

We have evolved a tolerance for a certain amount of smoke. Human evolution is bound up with our ability to cook food which enabled us to take in enough calories to fuel our ludicrous brains. We've been using fire since before we were human and we are all descendants of the ones who did not die of lung disease before they could reproduce. Nevertheless, millions still die worldwide every year from diseases caused by cooking on open fires and inefficient wood stoves.

Why would you want to fill your house with smoke and chemicals when you don't actually need to ?

People spend most of their time trying to get away from smoke. Just because it is smoke that smells nice or smoke that is make from "natural stuff" doesn't mean it is any the less bad for you.

Yes it probably won't make you drop dead on the spot. But it may well shorten your life by a good few years and make you more likely to contract a horrible lung disease.

Smoke, dust - it's bad for you.

Thank you for explaining my point better than my quick reply did 🤣

I grew up with a hippy mother who burned incense all day most days. I'm early 40s, never had a serious health issue, definitely not one related to incense anyway, nor has any one else that I know from childhood who had the same upbringing as mine.

They can cause health issues but it doesn't mean that they will. Just bin them and move on.

This thread is just like listening to people who say "well my granny smoked 40 a day and lived til she was 94".

Well yeah. That happens. Individual outcomes aren't the same thing as population level outcomes. Risk =/= destiny.

That doesn't mean there's no harm or increased risk associated with smoking.

Same goes for burning incense, or having a wood burning stove, or living by a main road. Some risks are more within our control than others - eg, we can't all afford to live in an unpolluted rural idyll. Some risks are outweighed by the benefits associated - eg, having a wood burning stove is the only way some people can heat their homes or cook their food. This doesn't mean that the risks don't exist! Just that they have to be considered in the context of the bigger picture.

Obviously there's nothing to be gained by panicking, and the strong likelihood is that there's no significant harm done and everyone will be fine.

But I'm genuinely surprised that people don't consider the smoke from incense to pose any kind of risk to health, whereas nearly everyone agrees that the smoke from cigarettes or bonfires or car exhausts does!

Or touching electric overhead wires….

Well I hope it's OK, coz me and DH use these several times a week, and have done for a couple of decades!

People come out with the most appalling nonsense to attempt to justify why something they like doing can't possibly hurt them.

The classic one for woodburning stoves is "man has been lighting fires for thousands of years, therefore it can't do me any harm".

I've come to the conclusion this is because they don't like to think what they like doing maybe damaging or harmful to them, so they prefer to make up some nonsense and believe that rather than try to dig into a rational explanation of why something might be harmful and take an informed decision based on scientific information or even just simple logical thinking.

I have a farty old greyhound, I burn incense all day long 💨💨💨💨💨

Well, lots of us got through the 1960s without after-effects from frequenting the many incense-burning shops, so I wouldn't worry about humans. However, anything like this (also plug-in diffusers, room sprays) will kill pet birds, as do lots of household activities involving fumes (ironing, burning non-stick saucepans, applying nail varnish or remover
in same room, etc).

In general I would assume that burning highly scented stuff creates smoke full of god knows what that is best not breathed in - like any smoke really.

But given that it is allowed to be sold, along with other stuff that isn't of optimum health benefit like alcohol, hot dogs, trans fats, cigarettes, vapes, etc I wouldn't panic.

Just avoid unnecessary stuff that you breathe in - air freshener aerosols, plug ins, etc. We don't need this stuff.

Yes Guy Fawkes for one.

But they didn't have a talking cat called Charlie

"Panic"? Really? ! Kindly, OP, that is a massive overreaction. You'll all be absolutely fine.

It's probably not great but it isn't panic worthy. People put all sorts into the air, even around children (scented candles, plug in scent things, wood burning stoves etc) which are also not great but are also not worth a panic.

YANBU and best to stop with any artificial fragrances where you can.

But don’t worry too much about the kids. I grew up with my parent smoking in the car with me, with the windows up. It was horrid but as an adult I don’t smoke and have zero known respiratory problems.

My family have used incense for generations. We’ve all been fine without any respiratory issues etc. No worries here! I love incense as the scent lingers for so much longer than candles etc. The other thing I love burning is frankincense. Bought some with a beautiful multi use holder from a place called Faseel recently and it’s my current favourite. Frankincense is said to have lots of air purifying properties and doesn’t have the risks that other things do if you were looking to switch to something else.

Personally I wouldn’t want to breathe in any of that shit. Including scented candles. But people seem to love them …..

All you posters claiming that you've been burning incense all your life and don't have any problems - how do you know it's not done you any harm? Your life may perhaps be shortened by lung cancer or some pulmonary disease when you get older. OP probably needn't worry, but with young children she would be sensible to stop all indoor smoke, as it does indeed cause long term harm if inhaled in sufficient quantity.