Candles: Unromantic Waste

Posted by Terri
Filed in Health & Fitness
May 31, 2007

Like the $30 jacket I bought at a Chinese mall recently, I never really think about how uber-synthetic things are. In that example, I was like "Cool, looks and feels enough like leather but it's not actually animal - I'll take it," much like how I figured candle wax was a perfectly reasonable replacement for whale blubber oil. It's easy to be ignorant, I know.

Most candles are made of paraffin, which I only recently learned is a waste by-product of petroleum, and chock full of yummy ingredients like benzene, formaldehyde, soot and lead. How about when that romantic candle starts coughing up black smoke sometimes? Yeah, that's likely the soot. Not so good for you or your lungs.

Read on to find out the worst thing of all that I've discovered - and sorry to say, it has a little something to do with those relaxing scented / aromatherapy candles...

Highly scented candles (the super expensive ones that I used to buy to make my home smell pretty) are often the nastiest in terms of indoor air pollution - and even the highest quality candle with the highest quality aromatherapy oils will only emit a scent for a few moments. This book I picked up (details at end of post) tells me that artificially scented candles can give off phthalates, which can muck about with your hormones.

Now onto the lead - believe me, you don't want to be inhaling this stuff.

Health Canada currently doesn't have a ban on lead candles in Canada, but apparently plans are on the way to institute such measures. Tea lights, pillar candles and anything that leaves a big wax puddle in its wake are the most likely to contain lead. Toss 'em if you got 'em.

Alternatively, 100% beeswax and veggie-based soy candles are good options. But this is where I ask for help - anyone know where I can find beeswax or soy candles? I saw some on Granville Island last week and it was very expensive ($25 for a small soy pillar). Maybe I just need to come to terms with the fact that if I want to burn responsible candles in my home, I'll have a pay a bit extra to breathe easy?

Your Guide to the Most Environmentally Friendly Information, Products, and Services in Canada: Ecoholic (When You're Addicted to the Planet) is my new favourite book and contains information that's Canadian-specific. Written by Adria Vasil. You should borrow or buy if you have the opportunity.

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Why don't you get a life and quit worrying about candles?

Posted by: bcneocon at May 31, 2007 1:07 AM | Quote Comment

eeeenteresting. thanks for the post. I think I'll stick with romantic night lights for now =)

Posted by: J-Ray at May 31, 2007 7:52 AM | Quote Comment

I've recently switched to using an aroma diffuser from Saje (saje.ca, there's one on Robson and one on 4th) with pure essential oil blends instead of scented candles, partially for this reason. I highly recommend Saje, by the way-local company, all-natural ingredients, amazing oil blends, decent prices. I use Ikea tealights in the diffuser, which are lead-free--just paraffin, vegetable wax, and cotton wicks.

I used to get my beeswax tapers from my in-laws, who kept bees, but sadly, the bees are no more, so I too am in search of a good source.

Posted by: Brianna at May 31, 2007 9:12 AM | Quote Comment

Tea lights contain lead!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Yikes. Do you know where I can find out more?

Posted by: shirley at May 31, 2007 10:59 AM | Quote Comment

As Brianna said, the Ikea ones don't contain lead so they're fairly safe - still contain paraffin though.

It says in this book that I referenced that "you can test your wick by peeling apart any fibre in the wick and seeing if it has a metallic core. If it does, rub it on white paper - if you see a grey smudge, it's probably lead....North American-produced candles generally don't contain lead."

You can check the Health Canada website, the book I referenced, and sites like www.grist.org and www.thegreenguide.com for more info on safe candles.

Posted by: terri at May 31, 2007 1:41 PM | Quote Comment

Scent your house with the the sweet herb.

Posted by: dustin

at May 31, 2007 11:25 PM | Quote Comment

Great post. I'd heard about the lead thing in cheap candles quite by accident, but since I've burned all the dollar store ones we bought for a power outage, it'll be difficult to tell whether they contain lead. I'm glad at least that I use IKEA tealights (I think...), but I now wonder about a pillar candle I have, hrm. I melt a scented PartyLite puck with a tealight, and today have lemons and flowers scenting my kitchen.

I put that book on hold at the library--turns out it's in high demand!

Granville Island isn't the best example for prices: everything is expensive there. You could try making your own beeswax candles with sheets (from Michael's maybe?) and wick. They burn fast but they look great and smell fantastic.

Posted by: erika

at June 3, 2007 1:44 PM | Quote Comment

That's a good suggestion Erika.

I used to make my own candles with my mom when I was little, it was actually fun! So I've been thinking I'll just track down some beeswax (again, I have no idea so if anyone knows where to buy let me know) and form my own, I think you can get the moulds from a craft store for dirt cheap.

I have also heard that although the soy candles are more expensive, they are a lot denser and burn much longer than other candles so perhaps the exorbitant cost is worth it in the long run...

Posted by: terri at June 4, 2007 5:05 PM | Quote Comment

I found a good, well-priced eco-friendly candle manufacturer, Seracon, but they seem to be out of coloured ones so I'm looking for other options right now. Any local suppliers would be good. Soy, beeswax, and mixed veggie wax candles do last longer than paraffin. The eco living store off Duranleau St on Granville Island (near Justin Stitches) sells beeswax tea lights for about $1 each. Also try the farmer's markets for beeswax candles of various sorts; the tealights there were 90c each. Heavenly!

Posted by: erika at October 2, 2008 2:43 PM | Quote Comment