Is incense unhealthy?

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Michael_M

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This may seem to be a strange question, but I am wondering if incense can be unhealthy, or potentially cause lung cancer or anything of that sort. This evening I was at Great Vespers, and as the priest came around with incense and consecrated the faithful, I coughed a bit, and began to wonder if incense is unhealthy. Don’t get me wrong, I love incense burned during liturgy. I understand the symbolic importance, the scent lifts my spirits and helps to remind me that when I am in the church, I am in God’s kingdom. It’s so important for us to come into contact with God through our human senses, since we’re sensory beings. But now I cannot help but worry a bit that repeated breathing in of incense may be detrimental to our lungs.

Anyone have any (name removed by moderator)ut or thoughts on this?
 
I’ve pondered the same question quite a bit over the years. My dad always burned sticks of incense in the house throughout my childhood so if there are carcinogens or other toxins definitively linked to cancer or other diseases, I’m done-for. 😛 lately I’ve been burning Three Kings brand of resin incense, which is actually frankincense and myrrh.

Seems like the best answer is that… they don’t know yet. Mixed results on tests, apparently.

en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Incense#Health
 
Incense is not necessarily carcinogenic. If you stick your head in a cloud of it and stay there for awhile, you are going to have some problems getting enough oxygen, though!

Any smoke, incense, BBQ’s, cigarettes, wood fires, will likely make you cough if you get a good lungful of it. Won’t necessarily give you cancer or COPD though. Moderation and not sticking your head in a cloud of smoke and keeping it there is the key. I use both scented candles and incense at home, both for prayer times and for the nice smell. Incense doesn’t usually bother me at the Liturgy, unless I get a good dose of the smoke from it, then it will make me cough too. When I was in the Convent, we had incense every day for Benediction and Devotion. No one there appeared to get any cancer from it, and some of the Sisters had been in the Convent breathing moderate amounts of incense for 50 + years! Priests also get a pretty good dose of it every time they use it. Always wondered if they have to hold their breath occasionally to avoid coughing?? LOL

I wouldn’t worry about it. Just don’t stick your head above it and keep breathing it. It will affect you the same way as putting your head in the smoke from a campfire – you’ll cough!
 
Unhealthy for daemons. Especially when it is offered while praying a good Marian Hossoyo Promion-sedro-'etro.
 
I don’t know about long term effects, but there is some chance it could be. However, for many people the immediate effects would have to be a yes answer. I am one of those people. It can cause severe asthma attacks with those who suffer from that condition. It can also cause severe migraines. It causes both for me.

In severe cases, for individuals who have allergies to certain chemicals or scents it can cause swelling in the brain and even death. I knew a girl who could not be around a cleaning product due to the agent that gave it it’s particular scent. Her brain would swell, she would have seizures as a result and also suffer memory loss and confusion.

The reasons listed above are why I am totally opposed to perfumes and colognes. They can cause severe health problems for a lot of people, and are known to contribute to “sick building syndrome.” As for incense, I am seldom exposed to it, and if I am I have inhalers on hand and try to cover my face to limit exposure.
 
I remember seeing some study once that concluded with high-quality, liturgical incense (with no synthetic additives, etc - hint: If it’s blue and smells bad, this study probably doesn’t apply) being healthy for asthmatic individuals over time. While I’m sure it can produce an attack, over time it seems the effect is positive.

I don’t have time to look up the study now, though (I should learn to bookmark things), and it’s probably just one out of many (depending on how interesting medicine doctoral students find liturgical incense), but at least this is what I refer to when killjoy asthmatics (just for the record - nothing wrong with having asthma, I have it myself) complain about the amount of incense in some parishes I sometimes go to.
 
Domitus said:
I’ve pondered the same question quite a bit over the years. My dad always burned sticks of incense in the house throughout my childhood so if there are carcinogens or other toxins definitively linked to cancer or other diseases, I’m done-for. 😛
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It sounds like you had a great dad.

It’s funny how so many things that were considered harmless when we were kids are now known to be anything but harmless. I may be dating myself here but when I was a kid, I went to a school where all the pipes and the ceilings themselves were covered in asbestos. Now asbestos is banned in most places. In those places where it is still allowed, the people handling that material wear masks and special clothing whenever they are around the stuff.

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Asbestos
 
not sure about unhealthy as in carcinogen…but when they use it at Holy Thursday Mass…I have a very hard time breathing (they use quite a bit that night)…and I am not asthmatic. I have to make sure to have a kleenex handy to cover my nose so I can breathe.
 
If you burn incense for hours while
in a small closet, you AND the in-
cense in the closet, for hours on
end, I might express some con-
cerns there.
 
Michael_M said:
This may seem to be a strange question, but I am wondering if incense can be unhealthy, or potentially cause lung cancer or anything of that sort. This evening I was at Great Vespers, and as the priest came around with incense and consecrated the faithful, I coughed a bit, and began to wonder if incense is unhealthy. Don’t get me wrong, I love incense burned during liturgy. I understand the symbolic importance, the scent lifts my spirits and helps to remind me that when I am in the church, I am in God’s kingdom. It’s so important for us to come into contact with God through our human senses, since we’re sensory beings. But now I cannot help but worry a bit that repeated breathing in of incense may be detrimental to our lungs.

Anyone have any (name removed by moderator)ut or thoughts on this?
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The amount of material vaporized is equivalent to about two cigarettes, maybe 3, during a typical sunday liturgy. (A cigarette is about a tablespoon to two of tobacco. I used to hand roll, back in my smoking days.) A typical liturgy is 2-3 refills of 1-2 teaspoons or less…

Also, incense is less toxic than tobacco - the volatiles in tobacco are specifically anti-insect toxins, while incense is made (mostly) from parts intended to attract insects, and resin, which is the equivalent of scabs. It isn’t the leaves nor bark, which are typically where toxins are concentrated. (Some also have them in heartwood, like Cedar.)

So, generally, it’s less toxic materials, in low volumes, in large spaces. The deacon gets about the most.
 
How many priests have died as a result of cancer caused by inhaling smoke from incense? After all, they will be exposed to it far more often than the average parishoner
 
prodromos said:
How many priests have died as a result of cancer caused by inhaling smoke from incense? After all, they will be exposed to it far more often than the average parishoner
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There are too many confounding factors to attribute any clerical cancer to the incense alone.

Emphysema, perhaps… but even that has confounding risks. (Living in LA in the 90’s was comparable to being a half-pack a day smoker… or so I’ve read.)

The biggest risk for lung cancer is inhaling particles of radioactives. A real risk if coal is used, not nearly so much if charcoal is used instead.
 
A clean form of charcoal is used in the Censor. I used to set up the Censor and start it smoldering for the Priests. Unless you are in an extremely small room, the charcoal is not harmful. There is also a cleaner form of coal - I think it’s Bitumen coal – which may be used in some locations, but it’s usually charcoal. (Very small lumps, smaller by far than those used in BBQ’s. The Incense is shipped into the US, usually consisting of Frankincense lumps, myrrh and some other incense types, usually from Israel, where it commonly grows. I have some of each in my house (need to get a small metal incense burner and ask my Priest for some of the small charcoal lumps). They look almost clear, similar to hardened tree sap. When I did the Censor set up, it was very tiny pieces of about 4 incense types (some were colored red, yellow and blue as well as black), they were small grains, not large lumps such as I have, since the larger lumps will burn for a couple of hours, at least. When I was a Sacristan, those who served in that capacity were allowed to take the partially burned incense at the Convent and burn them in a glass or metal burner in our cells. We used only small amounts (about 1/2 teaspoon) in our rooms, as we didn’t want to smoke the room up too much! Never had any problems with it. I have also never heard of a priest getting lung problems from it. It is not used for several hours, the incense grains and the tiny charcoal lumps go out after about 1/2 hour, and if needed again, we had to take it back into the Sacristry and restart it burning. The charcoal is about 1/2" in size, sometimes smaller and only about 6 to 8 of them are used in the base.
 
For some people (those who have asthma or respiratory conditions) it is advised not to have too much exposure. I have asthma, I try to sit in the back of the church during exposition/adoration. If I am serving at a high mass (I’m an EMHC), I place a tissue over my nose as not to breathe in too much of the incense. It works, I’ve had no ill effects.
 
judynurse said:
The Incense is shipped into the US, usually consisting of Frankincense lumps, myrrh and some other incense types, usually from Israel, where it commonly grows.
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Those ARE hardened sap. So is violinist’s rosin, and pitcher’s rosin.
 
Aramis said:
Those ARE hardened sap. So is violinist’s rosin, and pitcher’s rosin.
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Thank you! I thought they looked like sap, but don’t know how incense is grown, harvested and prepared. Glad to know exactly what I have.
 
judynurse said:
Thank you! I thought they looked like sap, but don’t know how incense is grown, harvested and prepared. Glad to know exactly what I have.
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There are 3 basic kinds of incense I’m familiar with: Sap, Petals, and Sawdust.

The sap is extracted by making cuts in a particularly sappy species of tree (for example, Frankincense), letting it ooze sap for a period, and then scraping the sap off. This is then dried further, sometimes being heated to liquid, filtered, and then recrystalized, often in a form. if recrystalized, it’s pulverized for incense use. These are also called resins.

Petals are usually shredded and then bound with thick extracted oils (such as rose oil). These are then either rolled into sticks or balls. They’re also often rendered down for essential oils, which may be further refined into tars by distilation.

Sawdust of aromatic woods (such as sandalwood or cedar) is a loose incense of its own; shredded wood and/or small cut chunks can also be used, but tend to flare and burn. Again, oils can be used to bind into sticks or balls, and pressed pellets are not uncommon. Sawdusts are often used with resins or oils to make a self-sustaining stick of incense that needs no coal.

Also, extracted oils are able to be condensed into tars by various means. These tars can also be used as incense, themselves, but usually are used as binders. Rose Attar is often used as a binder.
 
I would agree with the person who said that the incense itself is harmless, perhaps the coal or charcoal could potentially cause issues. Some brands include pieces of wood, for example, many Syro-Malabar incenses are hard for me to breathe as the sandalwood produces a heavy, musty smell similar to stick incense. The purer the incense, the cleaner the smoke. There are studies which show that incense itself can be an anti-depressant when inhaled.

I will admit to standing directly over a censer while lighting a cheap lump of charcoal and getting fainty when the charcoal stole all the oxygen around me and I had to hold my breath. This was during the longer Christmas Liturgy.
 
SyroMalankara said:
I would agree with the person who said that the incense itself is harmless, perhaps the coal or charcoal could potentially cause issues. Some brands include pieces of wood, for example, many Syro-Malabar incenses are hard for me to breathe as the sandalwood produces a heavy, musty smell similar to stick incense. The purer the incense, the cleaner the smoke. **There are studies which show that incense itself can be an anti-depressant when inhaled. **

I will admit to standing directly over a censer while lighting a cheap lump of charcoal and getting fainty when the charcoal stole all the oxygen around me and I had to hold my breath. This was during the longer Christmas Liturgy.
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Was wondering why incense is rarely used anymore. I only see it used at the cathedral during the TLM and at one small parish, and in that case only at the earliest mass on Sunday and even then very sparingly. I love incense. I burn the resin grains at home during my prayers. Maybe why I hate to leave home.

Didn’t know this thread was in the Eastern Catholic forum, I found it during a search. Incense is rarely used in the novus ordo Roman Catholic churches.
 
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