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 According to a recent study, published in a scientific journal, burning of incense in temples and homes releases Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons
(PAHs), which are carcinogenic chemicals. If homes and temples are poorly ventilated, as generally is the case, the level of these toxic chemicals at times can be even more than that at a busy traffic intersection. The study conducted by Ta Chang Ling of National Cheng Kung University of Taiwan points out that incense is often mixed with carcinogenic chemicals that cause cellular changes and which in turn can lead to cancer.
 Ling says that the risk of cancer in poorly ventilated houses and temples is 40 times higher. Besides even very low levels of certain other chemicals in incense, fragrance and scented products can lead to a wide range of deleterious effects on the human health. We use a variety of scented products like soap, deodorants, hair sprays, lotions, cosmetics, after-shave lotions and fragrances everyday. The
effect of chemicals in these and other scented products becomes more pronounced when we spend much of our time indoors.
Perfumes and scented products are composed of toxic chemicals like acetone, toluene, ethyl acetate, formaldehyde and ethanol that are found on any list of toxic and hazardous chemicals. All these and other
chemicals used in the manufacture of personal care products have been shown in animal studies to cause serious health problems and even death.
Many of these chemicals are also respiratory irritants and can trigger asthma, allergies, migraines, eye problems, nausea and fatigue. These chemicals can also affect people who do not have any pre-existing health problems. On many occasions it so happens that we may not have
used any of these products personally but we may suffer discomfort due to our co-workers, colleagues or family members having used such a product.
 Much work has been done on passive smoking but no attention is being paid to the fact that what is fragrance and perfume to one man could be injurious to the other person.
All fragrance chemicals are volatile and quickly become airborne once released from their receptacles. Besides being volatile these chemicals are also affected by heat, light and moisture.
Once in the air these chemicals, due to the presence of external agents, break down into several other compounds that could be more irritating than the original compounds. At one time it was thought that the chemicals used in cosmetics and perfumes affect only the skin. However, now it is known that the effects are not limited to
skin alone. From the skin these chemicals are absorbed into the blood stream and from there they move on to other organs. Several of these chemicals are known to have got into the human food chains.
Man has used perfumes and fragrances since long, but such problems never cropped up as these products were made from natural ingredients like flowers and other plant parts. But today the use of these vanity
products has increased tremendously and most of these products are manufactured using chemicals that are harmful to human health and environment.
 Around 4000 chemicals are used in our day-today cosmetics and other personal products and 95 percent of these trace their origin to petroleum. More often than not manufacturers of these products also do not reveal the actual components of their products under the guise of 'trade secret'. This makes it difficult to study the adverse impacts of these chemicals on man.
All of us are exposed to a variety of deleterious and harmful chemicals in our environment, so why increase the chances of falling prey to them by using these perfumes, fragrances and so called "personal products".
Most of these products do not in any way either improve the quality of air or contribute to our hygiene. They rather add more pollutants to the air. And mind you that higher price of a particular product
is no guarantee of its being user friendly.
We can protect ourselves, others in our vicinity and above all our very fragile environment, which is already under stress, by avoiding these products. We can make a beginning by observing these simple and
easy to follow rules.
- Stop using all scented products unless you are sure that they contain only biological products.
- Do not have your clothes dry-cleaned.
- Do not use air-fresheners at home or in your car. Try ventilating them in natural air.
- Do not burn plastics, cardboard, magazines and newspapers.
- Keep your homes, offices clean and well ventilated; it will solve most of the problems.
 Grow more plants in and around your homes.
I would like to conclude with a thought borrowed from the Internet: "How arrogant of we humans to think we could improve upon God's fresh air by creating a chemical concoction in a can!"
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