Candle wax – which one to choose and what are the risks?
Paraffin
It’s made by refining crude oil. Paraffin is not dangerous by itself but if burnt incorrectly, such candles can be life threatening. If a quality wick is not used in the candle but a one containing zinc or lead, such a candle can be very dangerous. When burning such candle, toulene, petrol or carbon dioxide can be released to air. Regular burning of candles with a low quality wick highly increases a risk of asthma or cancer.
Soya wax
It’s a natural and healthy alternative to paraffin. Burning these candles doesn’t increase the concentration of carbon dioxide and other substances in air. It’s suitable for allergics. Before you buy a soya candle, it’s recommended to make sure that soya the candle was made from doesn’t contain herbicides.
Palm wax
It’s a wax from natural resurces. It’s made by pressing from the oil tree that originates from west Africa but is nowadays grown throughout all tropics. Palm oil has become one of the most common plant products that is used mainly in food and cosmetics industry. Because of high demand, rainforests are being continuously plundered, which leads to irrevocable losses of biologic diversity and extinction of animal species that are not capable of surviving in new plantation environment. Palm candles are popular, natural and they burn almost without smoke but we should think twice before buying them because of nature.
Beeswax
It’s a high quality wax, a natural product that is created by metabolic reconstruction of honey and pollen in bodies of certain kinds of bees. These candles burn longer and better than any others. Wax almost doesn’t drip during burning. They are healthy – no harmful substances are created during burning of genuine beeswax. They are suitable for allergics. But these candles are also expensive.
Before the purchase of candles, it’s good to be informed about the material the candle and the wick was made from. The wick should be high quality, made from cotton and it shouldn’t contain zinc or lead lining.
Burning of candles is a matter of relaxation and making a nice athmosphere and peace, so there should be no higher risk of health issues.