How to Avoid Getting Sick Using Incense

While it’s widely used for relaxation, meditation, and religious purposes around the world, incense can actually have a number of adverse effects on your health. Although additional research is still being done, evidence has indicated that incense can release various pollutants that can make you sick quickly or slowly over time. In order to avoid getting sick from incense, it’s important that you both regulate your use and choose the safest options available to reduce your exposure to potentially harmful gases and particles.

Method 1

Method 1 of 2:

Regulating Your Use

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Burn incense outdoors to decrease your smoke and particle intake.^{[1]XExpert SourceJulie Brow-Polanco
Master Herbalist & Certified AromatherapistExpert Interview. 12 April 2022.} Perhaps the best way to burn incense without getting sick is to limit your use to outdoors only. While the aroma will likely be less strong, this will decrease the amount of smoke and potentially harmful particles you’ll inhale.
- When burning incense outdoors, make sure that you keep the burner away from leaves, sticks, and other flammable materials.
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Use incense in well-ventilated areas if you’re burning it inside.^{[2]XExpert SourceJulie Brow-Polanco
Master Herbalist & Certified AromatherapistExpert Interview. 12 April 2022.} If you do choose to burn incense indoors, make sure that the room is well-ventilated and that you keep at least one window open while it’s burning. This will reduce potentially harmful particle emissions and disseminate harmful gases that are released during the burning process.
- Burning incense can release carbon monoxide, formaldehyde, and nitrogen oxide into the air, all of which can make you sick with prolonged or repeated exposure.
- Keeping the windows open will also allow some of these air pollutants to escape the room, leaving you with the pleasant aroma and less harmful gases and particles.
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Limit how often you burn incense to avoid overexposure. Although it may help you relax and unwind, burning incense actually adds pollutants into the air. By limiting your use, you’ll decrease the pollutants you add to the air, making you less likely to experience adverse health effects.
- Because additional research is needed, there aren’t any specific guidelines as to how often you can safely use incense. Therefore, try to limit your use as much as possible given any religious or ceremonial needs.
To keep you from getting sick from incense, it’s best that you inhale as little smoke directly as possible. As a result, it’s important that you don’t place the burner or holder right next to you, as this will likely make you inhale larger amounts of smoke directly. Instead, place the burner or holder across the room so the pollutants disseminate into the air before reaching you.
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Keep incense away from babies, children, and pets. While studies are still being done about how incense can affect babies, children, and pets, it could impact their growth, development, and general overall health. Therefore, it’s best to avoid burning incense around any babies, children, and pets to be safe.^{[3]XResearch source}
- This is particularly important in enclosed spaces, where the air pollutants released by incense will be more concentrated.
While burning incense could be harmful for anyone, people with asthma, allergies, and respiratory issues are particularly susceptible to the potential negative side effects. Breathing in the air pollutants released by incense may worsen your condition and add additional symptoms, including headaches and irritation in your airways. Therefore, if you have any of these conditions, it’s best to avoid burning incense.^{[4]XResearch source}

Method 2

Method 2 of 2:

Choosing the Safest Options

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Use smaller incense sticks to burn less at a time. To help you limit your exposure to potentially harmful gases and particles and keep you from getting sick, try purchasing smaller incense sticks or cones and burning only one at a time. While the aroma won’t be as strong, you’ll be able to limit the amount of pollutants released into the air while still enjoying the calming effects of the incense.
- You can also extinguish larger incense sticks and cones before the burn all the way down by sticking them in water or sand.^{[5]XResearch source}
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Choose incense that has calcium carbonate added. When you’re shopping for incense, focus on options that have calcium carbonate added, which may reduce your risk of getting sick. While more testing is needed, evidence has indicated that calcium carbonate may reduce particle emissions that can cause respiratory issues such as coughing, wheezing, irritation, and inflammation.^{[6]XResearch source}
- Most retailers that sell higher quality incense include a list of the ingredients on the package.
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Select an electric burner instead of charcoal. Although charcoal incense burners use only a small amount of charcoal, they can still be potentially harmful. Charcoal releases carbon monoxide, which can lead to carbon monoxide poisoning over time. Since incense itself is potentially harmful, using an electric burner, which doesn’t use charcoal, is generally a safer bet.^{[7]XResearch source}
- Both electric and charcoal burners are available at a number of different price points, so you’ll likely be able to find an affordable electric option in place of a charcoal burner.