Claims about Beeswax Candles
November 1, 2013 7:01 PM Subscribe
Hoping some science oriented Mefites can shed some light on this- many people claim that burning beeswax candles produce 'negative ions' and that these have beneficial effects that include, but are not limited to things such as "negative ions relieve stress, boost energy and alertness levels, reduce the amount of dust mites and dander in the air, and they may help protect against airborne germs by attaching to positively charged ions that are holding other contaminants airborne." How much evidence if any, is there to support these claims and/or how plausible are they?
If you had to guess, what would you think? What if you had to invest a million dollars (euros, whatever)? That's right, it's complete and utter horseshit.
posted by notsnot at 7:15 PM on November 1, 2013 [3 favorites]
posted by notsnot at 7:15 PM on November 1, 2013 [3 favorites]
A really good tell is whenever any claim related to health uses the word "ions." If they do that, they are full of shit. Helpful hint.
posted by FAMOUS MONSTER at 7:17 PM on November 1, 2013 [10 favorites]
posted by FAMOUS MONSTER at 7:17 PM on November 1, 2013 [10 favorites]
(my wife says: "it's not horseshit - it's bee-shit!")
posted by notsnot at 7:35 PM on November 1, 2013 [2 favorites]
posted by notsnot at 7:35 PM on November 1, 2013 [2 favorites]
Bunk with a tiny nugget of truth behind it -- which is the best kind of bunk after all.
The references here will lead you to plenty of research on the effectiveness of air ionizers for dust and germ removal (tl;dr: some evidence that it works, but HEPA filters are a lot better).
Air ionizers use high voltage to do their thing. Candles, on the other hand, not so much with the producing ions as far as I can tell (this is well over my head but "The half-life of the initially produced ion is very short, approximately 10−7 sec, so it is present in only small concentrations" doesn't sound very promising)... in any case it's a certainty that burning wax is going to be putting more contaminants into the air than the ions produced -- if any -- can possibly be removing.
As for the "relieve stress, boost energy and alertness levels" thing, well, hey, I find candlelight as relaxing as the next guy, but I'm pretty sure ions aren't the active ingredient.
posted by ook at 7:39 PM on November 1, 2013 [4 favorites]
The references here will lead you to plenty of research on the effectiveness of air ionizers for dust and germ removal (tl;dr: some evidence that it works, but HEPA filters are a lot better).
Air ionizers use high voltage to do their thing. Candles, on the other hand, not so much with the producing ions as far as I can tell (this is well over my head but "The half-life of the initially produced ion is very short, approximately 10−7 sec, so it is present in only small concentrations" doesn't sound very promising)... in any case it's a certainty that burning wax is going to be putting more contaminants into the air than the ions produced -- if any -- can possibly be removing.
As for the "relieve stress, boost energy and alertness levels" thing, well, hey, I find candlelight as relaxing as the next guy, but I'm pretty sure ions aren't the active ingredient.
posted by ook at 7:39 PM on November 1, 2013 [4 favorites]
If you have a candle flame burning in a closed room, it will incinerate some of the dust and volatile organic compounds present. The trade-off is that it adds combustion products (carbon dioxide, water vapour, a small amount of carbon monoxide, smoke and other volatile organic compounds aka scents).
You might well prefer the result to the air you started with, but not because there are more ions in it; there aren't. If the room air has an overall negative or positive charge before you light a candle, it will keep that as the candle burns down. Charge might be transferred from one kind of particle to another (there will certainly be some electron exchange between existing ions and soot particles, for example) but the flame won't change the overall charge balance.
If you want to increase the number of negative ions in circulation in room air, you need an electrical device to achieve that. You should also be aware that any electric air ionizer will also produce small quantities of ozone, which is a respiratory irritant. I have met people sensitive enough to ozone that they can't bear being in a room where an ionizer is working.
posted by flabdablet at 8:04 PM on November 1, 2013 [1 favorite]
You might well prefer the result to the air you started with, but not because there are more ions in it; there aren't. If the room air has an overall negative or positive charge before you light a candle, it will keep that as the candle burns down. Charge might be transferred from one kind of particle to another (there will certainly be some electron exchange between existing ions and soot particles, for example) but the flame won't change the overall charge balance.
If you want to increase the number of negative ions in circulation in room air, you need an electrical device to achieve that. You should also be aware that any electric air ionizer will also produce small quantities of ozone, which is a respiratory irritant. I have met people sensitive enough to ozone that they can't bear being in a room where an ionizer is working.
posted by flabdablet at 8:04 PM on November 1, 2013 [1 favorite]
That sounds like someone getting screwed up about why beeswax candles are preferable to paraffin-wax ones. I haven't heard anything about beeswax candles being "ionized" or whatever - I've only heard that "beeswax is better than paraffin wax because paraffin is a petroleum product and thus it's a pollutant".
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 4:12 AM on November 2, 2013
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 4:12 AM on November 2, 2013
The advantage of beeswax candles is that they smell like beeswax, which is very pleasant.
posted by neroli at 8:29 AM on November 2, 2013 [6 favorites]
posted by neroli at 8:29 AM on November 2, 2013 [6 favorites]
And the disadvantage is that they usually make more smoke than paraffin candles, which is bad for your lungs.
posted by flabdablet at 7:25 PM on November 2, 2013
posted by flabdablet at 7:25 PM on November 2, 2013
Utter and complete horseshit.
EVEN IF beeswax produced more ions than other candles (it doesn't - that's horseshit), that wouldn't be a good thing. Ionized air = ionized oxygen = more free radicals in your bloodstream = toxins.
But there's no damned difference in the "ion output", which is (as far as your body is concerned) zero.
posted by IAmBroom at 11:48 PM on November 2, 2013
EVEN IF beeswax produced more ions than other candles (it doesn't - that's horseshit), that wouldn't be a good thing. Ionized air = ionized oxygen = more free radicals in your bloodstream = toxins.
But there's no damned difference in the "ion output", which is (as far as your body is concerned) zero.
posted by IAmBroom at 11:48 PM on November 2, 2013
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posted by Chocolate Pickle at 7:11 PM on November 1, 2013 [4 favorites]