Emissions of air pollutants from scented candles burning in a test chamber

Burning of scented candles in indoor environment can release a large number of toxic chemicals. However, in spite of the large market penetration of scented candles, very few works investigated their organic pollutants emissions. This paper investigates volatile organic compounds emissions, with particular reference to the priority indoor pollutants identified by the European Commission, from the burning of scented candles in a laboratory-scale test chamber. It has been found that BTEX and PAHs emission factors show large differences among different candles, possibly due to the raw paraffinic material used, while aldehydes emission factors seem more related to the presence of additives. This clearly evidences the need for simple and cheap methodologies to measure the emission factors of commercial candles in order to foresee the expected pollutant concentration in a given indoor environment and compare it with health safety standards.

[1]  M. V. Alphen.  Emission testing and inhalational exposure-based risk assessment for candles having Pb metal wick cores. , 1999 .

[2]  Lead in candle emissions. , 2002, The Science of the total environment.

[3]  C. J. Tuckett,et al.  Airborne particles in the home , 1998 .

[4]  J. Nriagu,et al.  Emissions of lead and zinc from candles with metal-core wicks. , 2000, The Science of the total environment.

[5]  Bei Wang,et al.  Characteristics of emissions of air pollutants from mosquito coils and candles burning in a large environmental chamber , 2006 .

[6]  R. Macdonald,et al.  PAHs in the Fraser River basin: a critical appraisal of PAH ratios as indicators of PAH source and composition , 2002 .

[7]  A. Baj,et al.  New sampling tool for airborne volatile aldehydes , 1991 .

[8]  S. Orecchio.  Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) in indoor emission from decorative candles , 2011 .

[9]  P. Koutrakis,et al.  Characterization of Indoor Particle Sources Using Continuous Mass and Size Monitors , 2000, Journal of the Air & Waste Management Association.

[10]  Joakim Pagels,et al.  Chemical composition and mass emission factors of candle smoke particles , 2009 .

[11]  W. Ott,et al.  Using multiple continuous fine particle monitors to characterize tobacco, incense, candle, cooking, wood burning, and vehicular sources in indoor, outdoor, and in-transit settings , 2006 .

[12]  Athanasios Katsoyiannis,et al.  Exposure to major volatile organic compounds and carbonyls in European indoor environments and associated health risk. , 2011, Environment international.

[13]  Ranjeet S. Sokhi,et al.  Atmospheric polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons: Source attribution, emission factors and regulation , 2008 .

[14]  J. Zhang,et al.  Characterization of emissions from portable household combustion devices: particle size distributions, emission rates and factors, and potential exposures , 2001 .

[15]  Who Regional Office for Europe,et al.  WHO Guidelines for Indoor Air Quality: Selected Pollutants , 2011 .

[16]  G. Cass,et al.  Characterization of Fine Particle Emissions from Burning Church Candles , 1999 .

[17]  A. Hodgson,et al.  Indoor pollutants emitted by office equipment: A review of reported data and information needs , 2008 .

[18]  Fukuya Iino,et al.  Toxic emissions from open burning. , 2010, Chemosphere.

[19]  S. Orecchio.  Analytical method, pattern and sources of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) in the stone of the Temples of Agrigento (Italy). , 2010, Journal of hazardous materials.

[20]  L. Morawska,et al.  Contribution from indoor sources to particle number and mass concentrations in residential houses , 2004 .

[21]  H. Fiedler,et al.  Levels of selected organic compounds in materials for candle production and human exposure to candle emissions. , 1997, Chemosphere.

[22]  Huang Zhen,et al.  Studies on the size distribution, number and mass emission factors of candle particles characterized by modes of burning , 2006 .