The following are a couple of years old but I've only just heard about them.
Thought you might be interested.
Both from BBC News.
An Irish Government minister has warned that burning incense in churches could be harmful to the altar boys and girls who help Roman Catholic priests celebrate mass.
Jim McDaid, who is a former family doctor, said the children were at risk because they inhaled the carcinogenic smoke produced when incense is burnt close by.
"Here you have quite a thick billowing type of smoke. Sometimes you see the children with this instrument which is down normally around their ankles, and the smoke just keeps coming up," Dr McDade said.
"And sometimes I cringe when I see them literally inhaling this, because sometimes there is an aroma of it and all I was trying to do was making people aware."
A spokeswoman for the Roman Catholic Church in Ireland said she was not aware of a study about the effects of incense, but that she would be looking into the matter.
And
Burning incense, popular in places of worship and in people's homes, could be a cancer risk.
Researchers in Taiwan found that the smoke produced by burning incense is laden with cancer-causing chemicals.
Levels of one chemical believed to cause lung cancer were 40 times higher in a badly ventilated temple in Taiwan than in houses where people smoke tobacco.
Incense burning also creates more pollution than road traffic at a local intersection.
Ta Chang Lin, of the National Cheng Kung University in Tainan told New Scientist magazine: "We truly hope that incense burning brings only spiritual comfort, without any physical discomfort.
"But there is a potential cancer risk. We just cannot say how serious it is."
Brad Timms, a science information officer for the Cancer Research Campaign, told BBC News Online: "We know from previous research that industrial workers exposed to PAHs have an increased risk of lung and bladder cancer, and PAHs are also a recognised cause of occupational skin and scrotal cancers.
"The risk of cancer from burning incense will depend on the levels of PAHs given off from this source and the length of time of exposure, and clearly more research is needed to determine these factors.
"In the meantime workers in temples could minimise exposure to themselves and their worshippers by improving ventilation."
Burning incense, popular in places of worship and in people's homes, could be a cancer risk
Words like "could" and "may" aren't parfticularly scientific. These seem to be articles written without reference to any actual statistics - assuming that any exist. If they don't you have to ask the question "Why not?"
"But there is a potential cancer risk. We just cannot say how serious it is."
Same here, a statement unsupported by study data, death rates, ca rates in altar servers/choristers in catholilc/high anglican churches ministers and worshippers in temples, etc., compared with that in the general car exhaust fume-inhaling general population.
While I'm not minimising the possibility that there may be some evidence to support these articles, neither article referred to seems to support itself with any. I'm sure that if statistical hard evidence exists supporting these articles it would be spattered as a banner headline in true sensationalist fashion.
Good ventilation makes good sense.
Welcome back from the Summer School everyone. Hope to meet with you all next year.
There was a letter in Nature: "Carcinogens in Chinese Incense Smoke" back in 1967 (Schoental & Gibbard 1967 Nature 216 p612) which showed the presence of various nasties in incense smoke, in fact the free radical content in tar condensates was comparable to that of cigarette smoke (1.3e15 and 1.0e15 per gram for those who want the numbers).
Since then there has been a good deal of research about effects of incense(I turned up 97 papers), but none in high profile journals. Mostly these studies have been in the far east where incense burning is more prevalent than over here in the west (unless your PP is tridentine!). Flicking through the abstracts they are saying that incense smoke contains nothing much different to most 'organic smokes' in the way of carcinogens. I could find no published research that looked at the effect of incense in the west.
I think we have to remember that all smoke is nasty because of the particulates and carcinogenic chemicals that burning produces, but the effects are cumulative. Sitting in the body of the church is probably no worse than sitting in a pub for passive smoking. Merseysider might smoke 20 a day but doesn't also go around snorting Prinknash "basillica" with similar frequency (I hope!) Whether we would want our kids to be inhaling directly from a thurible on a regular basis is a tricky one, do we ban them from going too close to the barbeque though? I was thurifer as a kid, as I suspect were many of us gents (serviettes were only coming in as I moved on) without any obvious harm.
Ah yes, more kwollity reportage from those doyens of scientific understanding, thar Beeb 'e Seers, true alchemists in the field of making something out of nothing, and almost as successful. Sorry, could u spel yr name agen? Doctor Muck wot?
I digress. But - since the subject has been raised, what's the liturgical point of Holy Smoke?
"Let my prayer come like incense before you; the lifting up of my hands, like the evening sacrifice" (Psalm 141).
Incense [also] creates the ambiance of heaven: The Book of Revelation describes the heavenly worship as follows: "Another angel came in holding a censer of gold. He took his place at the altar of incense and was given large amounts of incense to deposit on the altar of gold in front of the throne, together with the prayers of all God's holy ones. From the angel's hand, the smoke of the incense went up before God, and with it the prayers of God's people."
In the General Instruction of the Roman Missal incense may be used during the entrance procession; at the beginning of Mass, to incense the altar; at the procession and proclamation of the Gospel; at the offertory, to incense the offerings, altar, priest and people; and at the elevation of the Sacred Host and chalice of Precious Blood after the consecration. The priest may also incense the Crucifix and the Paschal Candle. During funeral Masses, the priest at the final commendation may incense the coffin, both as a sign of honor to the body of the deceased which became the temple of the Holy Spirit at Baptism and as a sign of the faithful’s prayers for the deceased rising to God.
The usage of incense adds a sense of solemnity and mystery to the Mass. The visual imagery of the smoke and the smell remind us of the transcendence of the Mass which links heaven with earth, and allow us to enter into the presence of God.
Fr. Saunders is president of Notre Dame Institute and associate pastor of Queen of Apostles Parish, both in Alexandria. (Courtesey of EWTN)[/quote]
Gwyn wrote:......and was given large amounts of incense to deposit on the altar of gold......
Don't take this image of the heavenly court too far now - we cannot afford gold thuribles - we cannot afford gold altars - I'm having enough difficulty repairing the church roof (please pm me to offer your gift-aided contribution - ha!)
