gozzterLeave a Comment on The trouble with candles

The trouble with candles

Damn! Is nothing safe anymore? I mean, yes I understand the need for wearing a seatbelt in a moving vehicle; I know that we shouldn’t buy things wrapped in plastic; I know we shouldn’t dispose of unused pharmaceuticals in the nearby toilet; and we certainly shouldn’t ever leave a washroom without, well, washing -our hands at least…

So, I try to recycle whatever I can, and compost stuff before it starts to smell. Reduce, reuse, recycle -that’s what I try to live by. I’ve even given serious thought about what to do with me after I pass into the undiscovered country from whose bourn no traveller returns, to quote Hamlet. I have even written about this -of course.[i]

Anyway, I do my best to try to keep the world safe for my kids -and to keep me safe from a dirty nest for that matter. Well, except for dusting; I hate dusting, and only when I am embarrassed by the cobwebs in the bathroom, or find myself unable to stop sneezing in the kitchen, does it occur to me that things can get out of hand if I’m not careful. I find, for example, that I have often been more rurally diligent about checking the mouse traps that I put behind my recycling container on the porch outside the kitchen.

Recently, however, I decided that the traps were not fair to those creatures just trying to make a living as best they could. I checked the porch again before I retired for the night, and realized, with a contented sigh that the traps were empty, so I stored the traps and their remnants of peanut butter in a box in the garage and the cares that had infested my day folded their tents, and like Arabs, as silently stole away…

I’m just trying to impress upon readers that I’m still taking corrective steps in my dotage, okay? Of course, living on a small island as I have for many years, there are times when the best-laid schemes o’ mice an’ men gang aft agley an’ lea’e us nought but grief an’ pain, for promis’d joy –(I’ve always wanted to quote Robbie Burns in an essay). To wit, the power used to go out when there was a particularly fierce storm and snow wreaked its havoc on the power lines to my house.

But, now to recoup the thrust of the title of this essay; after a few of these outages, I realized that it behooved me to keep a supply of candles on hand, and of course, a flashlight to search the back of the various seldom used drawers where I hid them for the summer.

It was actually rather pleasant to see the rooms by candlelight, and as long as the power returned before the freezer thawed, the house got cold, or I needed to cook dinner, the world was pleasantly quaint and reminded me of the off-the-grid seaside cabin I used to own: flickering shadows on the walls and the pleasantly pervasive aroma of candle wax and mould.

Still, memories are often wrapped in emotions aren’t they? Disguised as barely remembered events, their patina wears thin and changes with too frequent repetitions. But, the evil that candles do lives after them; their smell is oft interred with our bones.[ii]

Okay, I’ll come clean: ‘burning candles is one of the biggest sources of indoor air pollution. This is because when burning, candles emit a large number of ultrafine particles… [which] can remain airborne for long periods, and when candles are blown out, the concentration of these particles (including soot) increases even further.’ And, wouldn’t you know it, ‘while both candles and cooking emit high levels of particles, the number of particles from candles was much higher. Even more significant was the difference in particle size: cooking produced particles about 80 nanometers wide, whereas candles generated particles around seven-to-eight nanometers in size – much smaller and much easier for our lungs to inhale.’

And, burning candles produced not only soot particles, but ‘gases such as nitrogen dioxide and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) – a group of chemicals associated with inflammation and even cancer.’ Indeed, ‘the particles formed when candles are burning are remarkably similar to those found in diesel exhausts in size and composition. These particles have been linked to increased mortality rates from lung and cardiovascular diseases.’ Whoa!

As if that weren’t enough, ‘studies among healthy adults have observed small decreases in lung function, changes in arterial stiffness and heart rate, and reduced cognitive function after exposure to burning candles.’ I’m surprised I’m still here; but at least I’ve found an excuse to explain whatever reduced cognitive function my friends who read my stuff keep asking me about…

But hey, I live with the forest peeking through my windows, scratching at the panes, and serenading rooms with moans with the slightest breeze; it’s almost as if the house, both inside and out, is an integral part of the forest. I find I’m practicing Shinrin-yoku (forest bathing) even in bed at night. I mean there’s competition going on each day for my health on either side of my doors; a game which, unlike hockey, is hard to decide who has the stronger team…

I’m not sure I understand the value of forest bathing inside my house, but the article in theconversation.com I’ve been quoting, suggests that forest bathing (outside at least) is supposed to increase human natural killer (NK) activity, and the intracellular levels of anti-cancer proteins; reduce blood pressure and heart rate and so may help to prevent hypertension and heart diseases; reduce stress hormones; and increase the activity of parasympathetic nerves and reduce the activity of sympathetic nerves to stabilize the balance of autonomic nervous system.

With protection like that, I don’t think there is much that could hold a candle to living near a forest -although I have to admit I have no idea whether my undusted house with its occasional taper, or the windswept forest outside has the stronger goalie.

[i] https://musingsonretirementblog.com/2026/02/01/when-we-shall-die-take-us-and-cut-us-out-in-little-stars/

[ii] https://theconversation.com/that-cosy-candle-its-also-polluting-the-air-youre-breathing-269126

, , , , , ,

Leave a comment

search previous next tag category expand menu location phone mail time cart zoom edit close