Email This Article    Print

Incense Increases Respiratory Tract Cancer Risk

Researchers in Denmark turned to thousands of Chinese men and women to determine if exposure to burning incense over an extended period of time increases one’s risk of developing respiratory tract cancer. The burning of incense in the home and in holy places in China is a widespread practice.

Dr. Jeppe Friborg and his colleagues at Copenhagen’s Statens Serum Institute worked with researchers in Singapore and the United States for a collaborative study of the effects of breathing the fumes from incense. Between 1993 and 1998, 61,320 Chinese men and women in Singapore were recruited for the study, which followed them through 2005. All study participants were cancer-free at the beginning of the study and all were between the ages of 45 and 74.

The study revealed no specific link between incense and lung cancer, although 821 of the study participants developed lung cancer over the course of the study. Other cancers of the respiratory tract, however, were found to be more numerous in people heavily exposed to incense over a long period of time than in people getting minimal, if any, contact with the fumes. Upper respiratory tract cancers occurred 325 times in study participants, including cancers of the nose and sinuses, mouth, tongue, and larynx.

One form of cancer, squamous cell carcinoma, was found to be more common as exposure increased. Squamous cells line the surfaces of all internal and external organs and the squamous cells lining the respiratory tract are at particular risk from burning incense. The risk increased in both smokers and nonsmokers alike, leaving the research team to conclude there is most likely an element of the incense working independently as a carcinogenic agent.

Incense use is customary throughout Asia but its popularity is growing in Europe, the Americas, and many other parts of the world. In many religions, incense is an integral component of some of the most sacred rituals and ceremonies. The research teams states that their findings bear important implications for public health which call for initiatives to reduce involuntary exposure to the fragrant fumes. The team also suggests further studies to determine if various forms and fragrances carry more risk than others.

Full details of the Friborg study are available in the October 1 issue of CANCER, a publication of the American Cancer Society.

• Mesothelioma Treatment Reaches a New Breakthrough Moment
• Jeez, Doc, Get Some Sleep!
• Medical Exam Predicts Type 2 Diabetes as Well as Genetic Testing
• Medicaid Pays Millions for Unapproved Drugs
• Where’s the Beef? All Fast Foods Based on Corn
• Is Financial Fraud Behind Dramatic Spike in Pediatric Antipsychotics?
• Will Fast-Food Ads Follow the Marlboro Man Into History?