Flame-Free Candles Are Not Pollution-Free: Scented Wax Melts as a Significant Source of Atmospheric Nanoparticles

Abstract

Scented wax melts are being popularized as a safer, nontoxic alternative to traditional candles and incense for indoor aromatherapy. We performed field measurements in a residential test house to investigate atmospheric nanoparticle formation from scented wax melt use. We employed a high-resolution particle size magnifier-scanning mobility particle sizer (PSMPS) and a proton transfer reaction time-of-flight mass spectrometer (PTR-TOF-MS) for real-time monitoring of indoor atmospheric nanoparticle size distributions and terpene mixing ratios, respectively. Our findings reveal that terpenes released from scented wax melts react with indoor atmospheric ozone (O3) to initiate new particle formation (NPF) events, resulting in significant indoor atmospheric nanoparticle concentrations (>106 cm-3) comparable to those emitted by combustion-based scented candles, gas stoves, diesel engines, and natural gas engines. We show that scented wax melt-initiated NPF events can result in significant respiratory exposures, with nanoparticle respiratory tract deposited dose rates similar to those determined for combustion-based sources. Our results challenge the perception of scented wax melts as a safer alternative to combustion-based aromatherapy, highlighting the need for further research on the toxicological properties of the newly formed nanoparticles to better understand their environmental health implications.