Rechercher
Burning of incense... birth of nanoparticles !
ncense has been used since the dawn of time… almost. Indeed, incense has a history among the most prestigious : equal to gold for a long time, its trade has undoubtedly been the source of many fortunes… And this trade endures through the centuries as incense is still very much used to perfume the air inside dwellings.
Its use is based on a combustion process that inevitably leads to the release of a thick fragrant smoke, which is the actual origin of its use. Simply lighting an incense stick will produce smoke that contains particles of around a hundred nanometres in diameter, which will disperse inside a house over a period of a few minutes. And this smoke is made up of what we would now call pollutants ! (Societies change across the centuries !) Right next to the stick, the concentration of particles can reach more than 25,000 particles per cm3… These nanoparticles transport polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAH), some of which are known to be toxic to human health. Very recently, prolonged exposure to this smoke was believed to be associated with the development of lung and respiratory tract cancer.
Caution : incense may be conducive to meditation, but not exclusively…
Institut de recherches sur la catalyse et l’environnement de Lyon, CNRS-Université de Lyon 1
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