PARAFFIN CANDLES: THEY'RE CHEAP BUT DEADLY
Did you know that regular candle wax and liquid oil candles are made from Paraffin? It’s a petroleum by-product created from the sludge waste when crude oil is refined into gasoline. After it’s scraped out of oil refineries, paraffin wax is usually: bleached by adding dioxin; texturized with acrolyn (a known carcinogen); and then mixed with animal-based stearic acid (a nasty byproduct of the meatpacking slaughterhouses) to harden it so that it can be made into candles. When paraffin candles burn, they emit black soot and toxic fumes similar to diesel engine exhaust. The fumes contain poisonous chemicals such as benzene, toluene, naphthalene, tri-decane, tetra-decane, penta-decane, and hexadecane. Unfortunately, the FDA doesn’t require candle makers to list the ingredients in candles, so you never really know what you’re burning.
Paraffin candles contain up to 11 carcinogenic compounds which have been deemed "toxic air contaminants" by the State of California. In 2005, The American Lung Association issued a warning that burning regular candles emit toxins (in measurable amounts) into the air. “Paraffin candles are as dangerous to the lungs as second-hand tobacco smoke and even more so if you are in the habit of burning many at the same time.” South Carolina University experts found that burning paraffin candle wax gives off harmful fumes linked to lung cancer and asthma. When paraffin burns it basically releases the same toxic cancerous fumes and black soot as a small diesel engine. The toxins get into your lungs, food, walls and clothes. Imagine running small diesel engine on your dinner table - Yuck.
Read about the health risks and deadly Ingredients.