There are few sensations more instantly soothing than lighting a scented candle. It doesn’t matter whether you’ve chosen a high-end brand or a £4 supermarket dupe with suspiciously similar packaging: this simple act can soften the edges of the most stressful days (and make you feel like you just about have your life together at the same time).
Simply ignite the wick, watch the flame flicker to life, then let your fragrance of choice waft through the room while feeling equal parts smug and sophisticated. Extra points if the scent is designed to evoke some hyper-niche experience, like flicking through old tomes in a vintage bookshop, walking into a bakery on a sunny morning, or perusing a specific flower market at dusk.
For better or worse, they’ve become a shortcut to self-care and a quick fix for our frazzled nerves (plus, they’re the perfect prop for an artful social media post, which certainly hasn’t harmed their popularity). No wonder, then, that these delicately fragranced status symbols have become big business. Between 2021 and 2022, UK shoppers spent £418m on scented candles, according to data analysts at Kantar, and over the next decade, the global market is predicted to rise from almost $4bn to $6.1bn (£4bn). As far as guilty pleasures go, they might seem pretty harmless, bar the staggering price tag that comes attached to some of the fanciest offerings, of course. But do we need to take a closer, more critical look at what exactly it is that we’re burning?
By now, we’re all well aware of the dangers of air pollution, and how the fumes released when we burn fossil fuels can negatively affect both the environment and our health. Over the past few years, though, scientists have become increasingly concerned about the quality of the air inside our homes too. After all, people living in developed countries tend to spend up to 90 per cent of their time inside, so it makes sense to pay attention to what we’re breathing in. Everyday processes such as cooking (and indeed burning candles) can generate particulates and other pollutants, which are risk factors for heart disease, stroke and lung cancer. According to the World Health Organisation (WHO), household air pollution causes more than 3 million deaths each year.
A handful of studies have specifically focused on the impact of burning candles indoors, with some potentially worrying results. In 2017, experiments on mice by researchers at Copenhagen University found that particles released by burning candles caused more damage than the same dose of diesel exhaust fumes. Another Danish study explored exposure to ultrafine particles, which can penetrate deep into the respiratory system and exacerbate lung disease, and found that candle burning was responsible for around 60 per cent of this exposure. Why does so much candle research originate in Denmark, you ask? The Danes are among Europe’s top candle consumers, getting through an average of 6kg per person annually (blame the “hygge” phenomenon, which is all about staying in and getting cosy).