Every desi knows the drill, be it at a temple or a church. Incense has always been a big part of our tradition. However a new study claims that prolonged exposure to incense could lead to cancer.
Image from abrinsky
"Given that our results are backed by numerous experimental studies showing that incense is a powerful producer of particulate matter and that incense smoke contains carcinogenic substances, I believe incense should be used with caution," said study author Dr. Jeppe Friborg, of the department of epidemiology research at Statens Serum Institute in Copenhagen, Denmark. "That is, frequent use in rooms where people live should be minimized, or at least sufficient ventilation should be secured. In our study, we find the increased risk of cancer to be present in individuals reporting frequent use of incense for many years, thus, repeated exposure for years should probably be avoided."
While the study was conducted in via face-to-face interviews with 61,000 people. The only difference is that that study was on Singapore Chinese and not Indians.
The problem seems to be with the particles floating around
"Certainly I think bathing yourself in particles is probably not the smartest thing in the world . . . but I think very few people fill up their room with incense," said Dr. Arthur Frankel
Besides incense, South Indians in particular are notorious for the religious fires, fed by oil, ghee, food and even clothes, often seen as an offering to the gods. The amount of chemicals, carbon monoxide and carbon dioxide, in my opinion, far exceed what the human body could take.
Prolonged exposure should cause some kind of health hazard, cancer could be one of them.
Cancer being one of the many diseases that are not regularly screened for in India, which would explain the lack of statistics from there.
In any case, if you do burn incense, the authors suggest ventilating the room and avoiding excess exposure.
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