Burning incense ups cancer risk
2008-08-26 08:23
New York - Burning incense may
create a sweet scent, but regularly inhaling the smoke could
put people at risk of cancers of the respiratory tract,
researchers reported on Monday.
In a study of more than 61 000 ethnic Chinese living in
Singapore who were followed for up to 12 years, a team led by
Dr Jeppe T Friborg of the Statens Serum Institute in
Copenhagen found a link between heavy incense use and various
respiratory cancers.
For their study, the researchers followed 61 320 Singapore
Chinese men and women between the ages of 45 and 74 from the
Hokkien or Cantonese dialect group. All of the subjects were
cancer-free at the outset.
Participants reported on their typical incense use,
including how often they burned it in their homes and for how
long - only at night, for instance, or all day and night.
Over the next 12 years, 325 men and women developed cancer
of the upper respiratory tract, such as nasal, oral or throat
cancer. Another 821 developed lung cancer.
The link between incense use and increased cancer risk held
when the researchers weighed other factors, including cigarette
smoking, diet and drinking habits.
"This association is consistent with a large number of
studies identifying carcinogens in incense smoke," Friborg's
team writes.
Public health implications
"And given the widespread and sometimes
involuntary exposure to smoke from burning incense, these
findings carry significant public health implications."
The findings are published in the medical journal Cancer.
Incense has been used for millennia in many cultures'
religious and spiritual ceremonies.
In Asia, people commonly
burn incense in their homes - a practice that is becoming more
popular in Western countries as well.
Incense is usually derived from fragrant plant materials,
like tree bark, resins, roots, flowers and essential oils.
Past research has found that burning these materials can produce
potentially cancer-causing substances, including benzene and
polyaromatic hydrocarbons.
However, no studies until now had linked the practice of
burning incense to an increased cancer risk over time,
according to the researchers.
They say further studies are needed to see whether
different types of incense are associated with different
degrees of cancer risk.
In Singapore, the researchers note,
most people burn long sticks or coils of incense that burn
slowly over an extended period.