Incense is widely used for various religious ceremonies, ritual purification, during meditation, for

aromatherapy etc. Earliest use of incense is found from Chinese Neolithic time onwards. Some of these incense are made with combustible base using fuel and oxidizer mixture. Wood or charcoal powder being the fuel and sodium nitrate or potassium nitrate added as oxidizer to sustain combustion, essential oils or other aromatic substances are added for fragrance.

Burning incense add serenity to the environment in which it quietly smoulders taking away any odour.

A recent study conducted Rebecca Cohen, student -Environmental Sciences and Engineering (ESE).of  Gillings School of Global Public Health ,North Carolina, has found that burning incense can cause inflammation to lung cells in humans.  Harmful emission from burning incense is found to contain carbon monoxide, formaldehyde, and oxides of nitrogen.

Click to read more on the study “Hazard assessment of United Arab Emirates (UAE) incense smoke”

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