An essential part of all Hindu rituals, incense sticks denote peace & prosperity along with signifying spirituality. Chances are very high that aggarbatti smoke (incense stick smoke) harm you more than cigarette smoke while the smell of all good things might make you feel calm within you.
What do studies say?
According to a Chinese Study conducted in 2015, the smoke coming out from aggarbattis (incense sticks) has tiny particles that scatter in the air. These fragrant sticks emit toxic particles that are harmful to your body at a cellular level.
Reasons why aggarbati smoke (incense stick smoke) is more harmful than cigarette smoke
- Body reaction – As you take a breath in the smoke coming from aggarbattis, the smoke gets trapped in the lungs. This leads to an inflammatory reaction. The incense stick smoke can cause irritation in your respiratory passage, as its particles consist of around 64 compounds.
- Genetic mutation – As per the Chinese study, the incense stick smoke has three types of toxins that can cause cancer. The types are cytotoxic, mutagenic and genotoxic. It is clear here that incense stick smoke can cause a gene to mutate that is the pre-requisite to lung diseases and cancer. Due to genetic mutation, there can be a change in the DNA, which is a bad sign.
- Extra fine particles – Aggarbattis have extra fine particles that could be dangerous to your body. Keep in mind that the presence of artificial fragrances raises this danger.