Safety of burning incense.

[CrossLOPER]

Does anyone here burn incense on a relatively regular basis? I burn about a stick every other day or so. I found out on wiki that burning the stuff continuously may end up causing health problems. Anyone here concur or disagree?

[rajpoot]

My grandmother used to burn five sticks every day while praying, she never had any health problems due to it.
Infact it's used reularly here while preforming religious rites, in the temples, in houses, everywhere.

[Reverend Joe]

Incense burning did not affect lung cancer risk among non-smokers, but it significantly reduced risk among smokers, even after adjusting for lifetime smoking amount

I don't think you have anything to worry about...

[atheotes]

My grandmother used to burn five sticks every day while praying, she never had any health problems due to it.
Infact it's used reularly here while preforming religious rites, in the temples, in houses, everywhere.

I can attest to that too ... it is pretty much common practice in India and some days i woke up with smoke filling the house...

[Mikeus Caesar]

I don't think you have anything to worry about...

Oh bugger...

Well, i'm screwed. I burn industrial amounts of incense and am a smoker.

[rajpoot]

some days i woke up with smoke filling the house...

Ahh yes I know that, one wakes up suddenly sniffing, the sweet soothing smell of incense and the sound and music of prayer.......great start for a day!

[FactionHeir]

It depends I'd say. Currently i'm involved in a study on gene-environment associations in regards to outdoor air pollution, but I imagine incense as per the wiki article is made up of PAHs which are considered particulate matter.

Depending on the size of the particulates, they may or may not reach further down into your respiratory tract and cause some inflammation depending on the nature of the particulates as well as obstructing your airways. Factors to consider in that regard are your genetic susceptibility, past respiratory history and of course how well ventilated the room is in which you are burning incense.
Short term exposure to large amounts of particulates tends to reduce your peak respiratory output and FEV1 while long term it may lead to some morbidity.

I suppose most incense sticks aren't going to have excess heavy metals or industrial chemicals, so they should be safe in terms of carcinogenicity for the most part, still, for good respiratory health you want to reduce exposure to any respiratory irritant.