Astral Health

I was reading this interesting, but somewhat dated (2001) EPA report on “dirty house syndrome.” No it’s not what you think. Dirty house syndrome is actually a nickname for what is also known as ghosting, carbon tracing and carbon tracking. The EPA calls it Black Deposition Syndrome and it is INDOOR POLLUTION caused by burning low quality candles with additives in them.

Even the finest quality wax candles can cause Black Deposition Syndrome if they contain enough additives and unfortunately essential oils are counted among the pollutant that can substantially dirty up your house’s air.  The black soot that is dispersed into the air along with your aromatherapy is the product of the incomplete combustion of the essential oils. A candle that contains synthetic essential oils and paraffin might produce as much as 100 times soot as an ordinary candle.

So there you are, the picture of perfect self-knowledge burning eucalyptus, peppermint and juniper scented candles to purify your air when the entire time you are setting yourself up for a bad case of dirty house syndrome. If you have a respiratory problem such as chronic asthma or bronchitis or are allergic to something unknown it might be the aromatherapy candles you are burning.

How do you tell if your aromatherapy candle is causing Black Deposition Syndrome? If the flame is burning yellow it is probably emitting a lot of smoke. If the flame is burning blue then it emits less soot. Beeswax candles tend to emit the bluest flame and thus cause the least indoor pollution.

Sam