Three Fundamental Strategies to Avoid Hazardous Candles

One: Preclude fragrance
Fragrance = Red flag!
Any combination of thousands of chemicals may invent artificial scents and most scents are unhealthy for inhalation as they are made of petrochemicals or undisclosed ingredients which are not proven safe.

Two: Examine the wick
Candle wicks are commonly made of braided cotton. However, consumers should be aware of candles made of lead-cored wicks. The fact that burning candles with lead-cored wicks could bring a lead poisoning effect to young children was confirmed by the CPSC (U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission). Consumers are advised to ask the retailer for details about the wick used in their candles if they wish to find out whether the metal-cored wick contains lead or not.

Three: Inspect the wax
Vegetable, animal and insect-based wax as well as paraffin (petroleum byproduct) could be sources of waxed candles. Some candle manufacturers may claim single ingredient only in their candles but in fact their candle wax may not be 100 percent and mixed with other unknown ingredients in production. These ingredients may include paraffin, colour or fragrance which lead to asthma, cancer and allergies. Therefore, it's wise to choose waxed candles without scents, pigments and dyes.


Checklist of Choosing the Most Wholesome Candles 
Wax: 100% pure beeswax with its original colour and scent
Wick: 100% cotton without lead
Fragrance: No fragrance