Levels of selected organic compounds in materials for candle production and human exposure to candle emissions

Mutagenic and Carcinogenic Hazards of Settled House Dust II: Salmonella Mutagenicity

“…YG1042 -S9, TA98 +S9, and YG1041 -S9 mutagenic potencies were significantly lower in houses where occupants burned incense (N ) 12, r ) -0.61, F value ) 6.04, p < 0.04), burned candles (N ) 39, r ) -0.52, F value ) 13.96, p < 0.0007), or a used secondary heating source (N ) 40, r ) -0.31, F value ) 4.17, p < 0.05), respectively. These findings were contrary to what was expected because combustion events are known to generate PAHs and would be expected to increase the mutagenic activity of SHD (59,60). However, other investigators have noted that combustion events leading to obvious indoor pollution (e.g., cigarette smoking, stir frying) can elicit compensatory responses such as increased ventilation (61), which could reduce ambient levels of contaminants and, consequently, the mutagenic activity of SHD.…”

Levels and sources of volatile organic compounds including carbonyls in indoor air of homes of Puertollano, the most industrialized city in central Iberian Peninsula. Estimation of health risk

“…The I/O ratios for C5-C8 are lower than those for C9-C12 suggesting more important indoor sources for these last compounds. These compounds are associated with human activities indoors like renovation, painting and cleaning (Lau et al, 1997;Watson et al, 2001) In the category of compounds with a ratio near 1 we find npentane, n-hexane and benzene (their I/O ratios are between 0.9 (25th percentile) and 1.5 (75th percentile)) what means that these compounds originate predominantly from the polluted outdoor air penetrating into the indoor environment. Benzene is a common Table 4 Ratio-categories obtained by dividing median indoor concentration by median outdoor concentrations.…”

Chemical composition and mass emission factors of candle smoke particles

“…One important difference is that diesel soot often contains a substantial fraction of condensed organic carbon, of which some may be important for adverse health effects, for example poly aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs). Lau et al (1997) found comparatively low PAH emissions from candles. However, a more detailed study of PAH emissions also needs to be done during strongly sooting conditions.…”

“…Zinc emission factors up to 0.12 mg h −1 were identified by Nriagu and Kim (2000). Lau, Fiedler, Hutzinger, Schwind, and Hosseinpour (1997) investigated emissions of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon (PAH) emissions and gas-phase volatile organic carbon (VOC). They found that candles have low PAH and VOC emission levels compared to other indoor combustion sources.…”