Particle Size Distribution of Aromatic Incense Burning Products

Abstract

Abstract-Aromatic incense burning, which is aimed to alleviate some psychological and physical disorders, in indoor settings has been popular globally, yet the resulting indoor air pollution and the potential hazards arisen from incense burning has usually been ignored by most people. To date, knowledge about aromatic incense burning and the potential adverse health effects are still limited. Whether the size distribution of particulate form of combustion products is determined by the fragrance of aromatic incense burning is not clear. Accordingly, the present study is aiming to explore the size distribution of the particulate products from aromatic incense burning. In this study, three kinds of aromatic incense (lavender, rose, aglaia) were combusted in a homemade chamber, the Marple cascade impactor was used to collect different size ranges of particles and other combustion-related pollutants. The results of the study indicated that most of the particles emitted were smaller than PM 2.5 , regardless the fragrance of aromatic incense. The major sizes fell within the range between 1.55μm and 0.93μm and lavender incense was found to have the greatest emission factor in this size range. Compared with the regular incenses, aromatic incense burning has smaller emission factor. This study concludes that the combustion products of these three fragrances of aromatic incense are mainly PM 2.5 and may pose adverse health effect when inhaled. Therefore, adequate ventilation is strongly suggested when aromatic incense is burning and moderate usage is advised. Moreover, future studies on other popular fragrances of incense and many more forms of aromatic products are warranted.Index Terms-Aromatic incense, particle size distribution, PM 2.5 .

Controlled morphology of electrospun nanofibers from waste expanded polystyrene for aerosol filtration

“…The filter performance to capture the particles in PM 2.5 category was conducted using the particles source from burning incense. The incense emits smoke that contains many compounds with high particle concentration (ranging from 7 to 202 mg h −1 ) [79]. Figure 13(a) depicts the PM 2.5 collection efficiency of the EPS nanofibrous mats with different fiber diameter.…”

“…Figure 14 shows the SEM image of the EPS nanofibrous mats after the incense smoke filtration for 4 h. Unlike the PSL particles, the trapped incense smoke formed a coating layer on the surface of the EPS fiber. As PM 2.5 source, the incense smoke contains many compounds with wide particle size distribution [79,80]. During the filtration process, the particles might agglomerate to form the coating layer on the surface of the EPS nanofibrous mats.…”