Lighting joss sticks in temples and shrines as an offering releases cancer-causing toxins just as deadly as cigarette smoke and traffic fumes. A study into the effects and the levels of toxins that fill the air has resulted in Thailand's public health ministry releasing a new set of guidelines to cut the risks to worshippers and temple workers.
The study of temples in three areas well away from Bangkok's traffic-choked streets found that the smoke given off by incense contains unsafe levels of benzene, butadiene and benzopyrene, which can cause leukaemia, lung, skin and bladder cancers.
One incense stick burned down gives off as much cancer-causing chemicals as one cigarette. But the research among temple workers found that not everyone exposed chemical cocktail developed cancer, just as not all smokers develop lung cancer. Blood samples of those exposed showed the incense smoke contained benzene at levels 53 times higher than that said to be safe, 33 times more butadiene and 10 times the amount of safe benzopyrene.