Burning incense has been used as a part of religious ceremony for hundreds, maybe thousands of years, and persists until today. Incense is widely used in Asia region, yoga and Zen practitioner in west, and some Christian monastery in Europe. Because it is used as a part of ceremony itself, no one has ever questioned its benefits, and its risk.
CANCER, a journal of the American Cancer Society, on their Oct 2008 issue that long term use of incense increases the risk of developing cancers of the respiratory tract. They reported that the duration and intensity of incense use were associated with an increased risk of squamous cell carcinomas in the entire respiratory tract, and specially on upper respiratory tract.
Earlier studies shows that burning incense—which is made of plant materials mixed with oils—produces a mixture of possible carcinogens, including polyaromatic hydrocarbons, carbonyls and benzene. In a research held in Taiwan on 2001, it has been proved that burning incense will result to slow accumulation of potential carcinogen on spot, specially if it's burned in poorly ventilated area. Carcinogenic chemical agent accumulated on its smoke and inhaled by its users, so researchers then tried to link the carcinogen accumulation to lung cancer case in incense-using population, but there was no consistent results.
But latest research involving 61,320 Singapore Chinese shows that incense use seemed to add to the increased risk of upper respiratory tract squamous cell carcinoma. They added that duration and intensity of incense use were associated with an increased risk of squamous cell carcinomas in the entire respiratory tract.
"Given the widespread and sometimes involuntary exposure to smoke of burning incense, these findings carry significant public health implications," they wrote "Besides initiatives to reduce incense smoke exposure, future studies should be undertaken to identify the least harmful types of incense," they added.
CANCER, a journal of the American Cancer Society, on their Oct 2008 issue that long term use of incense increases the risk of developing cancers of the respiratory tract. They reported that the duration and intensity of incense use were associated with an increased risk of squamous cell carcinomas in the entire respiratory tract, and specially on upper respiratory tract.
Earlier studies shows that burning incense—which is made of plant materials mixed with oils—produces a mixture of possible carcinogens, including polyaromatic hydrocarbons, carbonyls and benzene. In a research held in Taiwan on 2001, it has been proved that burning incense will result to slow accumulation of potential carcinogen on spot, specially if it's burned in poorly ventilated area. Carcinogenic chemical agent accumulated on its smoke and inhaled by its users, so researchers then tried to link the carcinogen accumulation to lung cancer case in incense-using population, but there was no consistent results.
But latest research involving 61,320 Singapore Chinese shows that incense use seemed to add to the increased risk of upper respiratory tract squamous cell carcinoma. They added that duration and intensity of incense use were associated with an increased risk of squamous cell carcinomas in the entire respiratory tract.
"Given the widespread and sometimes involuntary exposure to smoke of burning incense, these findings carry significant public health implications," they wrote "Besides initiatives to reduce incense smoke exposure, future studies should be undertaken to identify the least harmful types of incense," they added.
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