Carbon Monoxide Emissions from Joss or Incense Sticks

Abstract

A recent Department of Health funded project investigating carbon monoxide (CO) levels in homes found one home with CO concentrations above World Health Organisation (WHO) guideline levels. The source was identified as burning joss or incense sticks. This paper reports on a study investigating the CO emissions of 5 different types of commonly available joss sticks. All 5 brands emit significant amounts of CO with each joss stick producing as much as 557mg of CO, compared to 60mg CO from a typical cigarette. Experiments confirm that burning as few as 2 joss sticks (Lemon Grass brand) in a well sealed room would breach the WHO 1-hour guideline levels for CO of 26ppm within an hour.