Scented Candles Come With Serious Risks To Your Baby’s Health

Jun 28, 2018

Many people buy and use scented candles for decorating a room, filling rooms with a lovely fragrance, or even creating ambiance in a space. You might even light them daily when you come home from work to relax and enjoy the scent.

But next time you want to kick back and light some scented candles, you might want to weigh the risks.

Mother Meghan Budden, from New Jersey, realized that the candles can be dangerous the hard way. While nursing her baby, a son named Jimmy, she noticed black dots in his nostril area. Even after trying to clean them off, these black dots remained and she became worried for his health and safety.

Meghan then remembered the previous night when she had burned two separate scented candles. When she retrieved the candle packaging to read the warnings, they suggested that the candles should not be burned for over 3 hours at a time. Meghan had burned each candle for around six hours. Meghan soon understood that her scented candles had created soot that was being spread across the room that her son Jimmy was in. It then hit her that Jimmy had been breathing in this soot for the whole six hours.

Because soot particles are easy to overlook due to their small size and unnoticeable nature, it’s common to breathe them in without noticing anything alarming, but the health risks can be dangerous. Toxins from the candles can cause serious illnesses and severe health complications.

Anne Steinemann, an environmental pollutants expert who works at the University of Melbourne, warns that these candles can cause "damage to the brain, lung and central nervous system, as well as cause developmental difficulties.” Something no mother wants to subject her child to.

In current years, Cashins And Associates note that there are around 20,000 premature deaths in America every single year due to soot. To lessen your chances, Steinemann advises that “sooting can be reduced by keeping candle wicks short, drafts to a minimum, and burning unscented candles.” These habits will decrease and prevent soot from being created and spread throughout the room.

Fortunately, Meghan’s quick realization that the candles caused the black spots on her son's nose potentially saved her son’s life from these health risks caused by soot. Her son is now a happy and healthy 1 and a half year old. Meghan should be admired for speaking out about the potential dangers of these candles and alerting other mothers about their risks to children!

If you or your loved ones adore burning scented candles, it’s important to understand and weigh the risks when using them around yourself and your children. Soot can cause potential health conditions for you or your loved ones if your candles aren't tended to properly. With mothers like Meghan warning about the risks of scented candles, it’s important to further her message and alert others of the consequences. Do you know anyone who uses scented candles regularly? Make sure you show them this article!