Beeswax is made by nature’s worker bees. No artificial scents or colours are required and it’s free from petroleum products and chemicals. Beeswax candles last up to three times longer than paraffin wax candles and twice as long as soy candles of the same size. Beeswax candles do not drip and are smokeless.
Northern Light Candle Company uses only the purest, unadulterated, organic beeswax when producing our candles. We believe people should have a choice to make clear decisions via education. What you are breathing whilst burning a paraffin candle may be harmful.
Read more about the benefits of beeswax candles here
Paraffin oil (kerosene) and the solid form paraffin wax are petrochemical fuels. It starts as the black sludge that has been rejected by the oil industry. This petroleum by-product is then bleached with 100% industrial strength bleach, creating toxic dioxins, and changing the colour to its pleasant whiteness. Acrolyn, a known carcinogenic chemical, is then added to form the white sludge into solid white blocks. Once burned, paraffin releases additional carcinogenic toxins such as benzene and toluene into the air causing further issues particular in unventilated rooms. Paraffin blocks are then sold to companies who may add various other chemicals to texturize, artificial dyes for colour and/or synthetic fragrances to create those great candle smells.
Combine this altogether and you get a very toxic product. Burning candles does not produce high enough temperatures to combust the heavy molecules contained in paraffin wax completel. This leads to the formation and emission of hazardous molecules which can irritate the lungs and trigger asthma attacks.
Dr Amid Hamidi, from South Carolina State University in Orangeburg who conducted studies warning of paraffin candles suggests switching to beeswax candles which produce no detectable levels of harmful chemicals yet provided the warmth and ambience.
The ‘exhaust’ or soot from paraffin candles has been examined by the Australian Government’s National Occupational Health and Safety Commission (NOHSC). The NOHSC recommends workplace exposure limits of 2 milligrams of paraffin fume per cubic meter, over an eight-hour period*.
So to be safe, it is permissible to burn 2mg for each cubic meter of air space in a confined room, over an 8 hour period (when you are working/sleeping/resting). Let’s say for example, your room is a 30 cubic meter room, [3 meters x 4 meters x 2.5 meters high}. Each 8 hour paraffin tea light will hold up to 20,000 mg – so, back inside the 30 cubic meter room of workspace, you are permitted only 60mg in this air space, to be safe, over an 8 hour period.
So, inside the 30 cubic meter room with the windows and doors shut, if you are burning 2 paraffin 8-hour tealight candles, you may well need to evacuate that room in under 3 minutes, to be safe. This information is according to almost all international standards on paraffin fume.
Northern Light Candle Company’s candles contain no paraffin.
*Source: Australian Government National Occupational Health and Safety.
Acute health effects: The following acute (short-term) health effects may occur immediately or shortly after exposure to chlorine dioxide: irritate the nose and throat, causing coughing and chest pain; eye irritation with watery eyes and seeing halos around lights; breathing chlorine dioxide can irritate the lungs causing coughing and/or shortness of breath. Higher exposures can cause a build-up of fluid in the lungs (pulmonary oedema), a medical emergency but which might not occur for 24 hours, with severe shortness of breath and possibly death.
Chronic health effects: The following chronic (long-term) health effects can occur at some time after exposure to chlorine dioxide and can last for months or years: irritate the lungs; repeated exposure may cause bronchitis to develop with cough, phlegm, and/or shortness of breath. Permanent lung damage may occur, especially with repeated exposure to the vapours. There is limited evidence that chlorine dioxide may damage the developing foetus.
The substance can be absorbed into the body by inhalation, ingestion of food that has been treated with chlorine dioxide, or skin contact.
People living near industries that produce or use chlorine dioxide. From using disinfectants or bleaches that contain chlorine dioxide. From foods and drinking water that have been treated with chlorine dioxide.
Australian Drinking Water Guidelines (NHMRC and ARMCANZ, 1996): Maximum of 1 mg/L (i.e. 0.001 g/L)
Worksafe Australia: Maximum time weighted exposure (TWA) level: 0.1 ppm 0.28 mg/m3 Maximum short term exposure level (STEL): 0.3 ppm 0.83 mg/m3>
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