Is Agarbatti Smoke Harmful? What Studies Say and How to Burn Incense Safely at Home

Last updated: 4 November 2026 · By Acharya Alok Pandit, Divine Hindu, Jayanagar 3rd Block East, Bengaluru 560011 · ~19 min read

Is agarbatti smoke harmful? The short answer

Agarbatti smoke is a real source of indoor air pollution, and how much it matters depends on how much you burn, how often and how well the room is aired. That is the fair summary of the studies below.

Three things are clear from the evidence:

• Incense makes a lot of fine particles. A US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) study found that burning incense "emits fine particulate matter in large quantities compared to other indoor sources."
• Products differ widely. Across 23 incense types, the EPA team measured emission rates that varied about tenfold. A single number for "an agarbatti" does not exist.
• Heavy, long-term use has been linked with harm. Large studies in Singapore and Hong Kong found associations between household incense and respiratory and heart problems, though they cannot prove cause.

Two things are not known. Nobody has measured what one or two sticks at a ten-minute home puja do to health. And no study has compared charcoal-based and charcoal-free agarbatti smoke head to head.

What is in agarbatti smoke?

Agarbatti smoke is a mix of very small particles and gases released as the paste, the fragrance and the bamboo smoulder. The main ones studied are these.

The fragrance and base paste change the mix. Some sticks are scented by dipping in diluted perfume; others carry ground aromatics rolled into the paste. Our guide to how agarbatti is made explains those methods, and types of agarbatti compares masala, charcoal, dhoop and bambooless sticks.

What have studies of incense smoke actually measured?

Most of what we know comes from test chambers, where incense is burned in a sealed or controlled room and the air is sampled. These studies are precise but artificial, and few tested Indian agarbatti.

What do these chamber studies tell us?

They tell us that incense is a strong source of fine particles while it burns, and that products vary a great deal. In the EPA work, the gap between the lowest and highest emitter was roughly tenfold. In one study of six brands, by See and Balasubramanian, it was more than a hundredfold.

The Kanpur temple study matters because it is one of the few measurements from India. The authors found that ventilation and the amount of incense burned were the major factors. A crowded temple burning dozens of sticks is very different from a home shrine, so its numbers should not be read as home exposure.

What did the 2015 "more toxic than cigarettes" study really say?

This is the study behind many alarming headlines. One study found that smoke from two incense types was mutagenic and more cytotoxic and genotoxic than the cigarette it was compared with, according to an ANI report carried by Business Standard. The lead researcher, Rong Zhou, warned against concluding that incense smoke is more toxic than cigarette smoke. The work tested cells in a laboratory, not people, and only two products.

Is agarbatti smoke worse than cigarette smoke?

Gram for gram, incense produces more particles than cigarettes, but that does not make one stick at a puja "worse than smoking". The comparison is narrower than the headlines suggest.

The American College of Allergy, Asthma and Immunology (ACAAI) and the American Lung Association both cite a figure of about 45 mg of particulate matter per gram of incense burned, against about 10 mg for cigarettes. The Lung Association rounds that to "four times more than a cigarette".

Three cautions apply:

• It is per gram burned, not per stick or per puja. How many grams you burn, and how often, decides your exposure.
• A smoker inhales directly, many times a day; incense smoke is diluted in room air.
• Products vary tenfold or more, so any single comparison is an average across very different sticks.

The honest conclusion is that both are smoke, both are worth limiting indoors, and the amount matters more than the comparison.

What do long-term studies of people show?

The strongest human evidence comes from long-running studies in Singapore and Hong Kong, where incense is burned daily in many homes. They found associations, not proof of cause.

• Respiratory cancers, Singapore (Friborg et al., Cancer, 2008). Among 61,320 Singapore Chinese adults, long-term incense use was associated with squamous-cell cancers of the respiratory tract (relative risk 1.8). It was not associated with lung cancer overall.
• Heart and circulation, same cohort (Pan et al., Environmental Health Perspectives, 2014). Among 63,257 adults, current incense users had a 12% higher risk of cardiovascular death (hazard ratio 1.12). The study had no data on incense type or ventilation.
• Children's breathing, Hong Kong (Zhang et al., Pediatric Pulmonology, 2019). One study of 4,041 schoolchildren found that household incense burning was associated with slower growth in lung function and more bronchitis and bronchiolitis. The American Lung Association reports a similar pattern: more coughing, wheezing and lung infections in children from incense-burning homes.

These are observational studies of heavy, daily, long-term use. They used questionnaires about habits, and some other studies have found no link. They cannot tell us the effect of a short puja in a ventilated room. They do tell us that years of heavy indoor incense smoke are worth taking seriously.

Does charcoal-free or "smokeless" agarbatti change the picture?

We do not know, because no peer-reviewed study has compared charcoal-based and charcoal-free agarbatti smoke head to head. We looked for one and could not find it.

The nearby evidence cuts both ways:

• One 2004 Hong Kong study found that the two products sold as environmentally friendly did not emit less than the others.
• One 2016 Hong Kong study found that "eco" incense gave less PM2.5 mass but more total PAHs.
• One National Taiwan University project report, not a journal paper, found that higher-carbon "less smoke" incense gave less particulate matter and fewer VOCs, but more carbon monoxide and carbon dioxide per gram.

The lesson is that less visible smoke is not the same thing as fewer harmful compounds. Treat any label that promises otherwise with care. What charcoal-free actually means, and how to tell it apart at home, is covered in our guide to charcoal-free agarbatti.

One related finding is often misapplied. One study in the UAE found that the charcoal briquettes used to burn oudh and bakhoor add significantly to carbon monoxide indoors. That is resin burned on a separate block of charcoal, as with sambrani or loban, not the charcoal dust in an agarbatti's paste. Our guide to sambrani, dhoop and loban explains the difference.

What does the IS 19412:2025 standard ban in agarbatti?

India's first dedicated agarbatti standard, IS 19412:2025, bans eight named substances, including several insecticides. The Consumer Affairs Minister, Pralhad Joshi, released it around National Consumer Day, 24 December 2025.

The standard also sorts agarbatti into machine-made, hand-made and traditional masala types. It sets requirements for raw materials, burning quality, fragrance performance and chemical parameters. The BIS committee drafted it with CSIR-CIMAP, CSIR-IITR (the Indian Institute of Toxicology Research), CSIR-CFTRI, the Fragrance and Flavour Development Centre in Kannauj and the All India Agarbathi Manufacturers Association.

Is IS 19412 compulsory?

We found no Quality Control Order making it compulsory, so for now it appears to be a voluntary standard. Products that meet it can carry the BIS Standard Mark, according to the ministry as quoted by Deccan Herald. A pack should only claim IS 19412 if the maker holds a BIS licence or a test report for it.

What should you look for on a label?

• The maker's name and address, so you know who stands behind the product.
• The type of stick: masala, dipped, charcoal-based or charcoal-free.
• A BIS Standard Mark with a licence number, if the pack claims IS 19412.
• Caution with vague "free-from" or "green" words. India's Central Consumer Protection Authority says such claims need credible evidence.

How the standard came about, and what it means for makers, is in our guide to how agarbatti is made in India.

How to reduce agarbatti smoke at home: ventilation

Health and fire bodies give the same first advice: burn incense in a well-ventilated room, near an open window or door, and limit how long and how often you burn it. We found no study that measures how quickly a home clears, so we give this as practice, not numbers.

1. Open a window or door before you light. Greater Manchester Fire and Rescue advises opening windows or doors to stop smoke and carbon monoxide building up.
2. Light fewer sticks. No text we know of fixes the number, as our guide to how to light agarbatti in puja explains, so lighting a single stick is within custom.
3. Shorten the burn. Some families let the stick burn through the puja and aarti, then put it out once the offering is complete.
4. Keep the room airy but the stick out of direct draughts. A draught can fan the tip or blow ash off the holder.
5. Use an exhaust fan or a cross-breeze if your puja corner is in a small room or a kitchen.
6. Open a closed mandir. Fire services advise never burning incense inside closets. A closed wooden mandir is a similar space, so open its doors or set the holder outside it.
7. Air the room afterwards, especially before anyone sleeps there.

Where the shrine sits makes a difference to all of this. Our guide to pooja room direction and layout covers placement, and you can keep a window in mind as you plan it.

Fire safety with agarbatti: holders, embers and placement

Fire is the most immediate risk from agarbatti. The London Fire Brigade says candles, incense sticks and oil burners are "one of the most common causes of fire" in homes, and it has traced specific house fires to incense.

Fire services in the UK and Australia give the same core rules:

• Use a heat-resistant holder that catches falling embers and ash, on a stable, non-flammable surface.
• Keep incense away from curtains, furniture, clothes, paper and hair. Do not hang anything above it.
• Never leave burning incense unattended. Put it out before you leave the room or go to sleep.
• Never burn incense where people are sleeping, or inside closets and cupboards.
• Keep it out of reach of children and pets.
• After lighting, check that the stick is smouldering, not flaming. In one London fire, a stick kept flaming and a burning piece fell onto things below.
• Make sure ash and stubs are completely out and cold before you throw them away. Hot ash falling onto carpet has started house fires.

Puja adds its own hazards. Fire and Emergency New Zealand's guide for Indian communities advises using only a small piece of camphor, which is highly flammable, and setting the diya on a metal tray or fire-resistant board. In 2022, PGIMER Chandigarh's fire-safety circular told its departments to restrict lighting "Dhoop / Jot / Agarbatti" on hospital premises, as Medical Dialogues reported.

For holders, ash and how to retire leftover sticks, see our guide to agarbatti ash and choosing a holder. For lamps on the same tray, our note on ghee and oil diyas covers wicks and placement.

Agarbatti, children and asthma: what health bodies advise

NHS guidance for parents lists "using candles and incense sticks" among home activities that can trigger a child's asthma, and advises opening a window if you do burn them. Two separate NHS services, in West Yorkshire and North Central London, give this advice.

For adults with asthma or COPD, a long-term lung condition, the ACAAI suggests shorter burn times, better ventilation, or electric and aromatic-vapour alternatives, while respecting the sacred meaning of the practice. Its advice followed a single case report. The American Lung Association suggests burning incense when a person with a lung condition is not at home, or limiting their exposure.

In practice, families with a baby, a young child or someone with asthma often do the following:

• Light the stick only during the puja itself and put it out afterwards.
• Keep the child out of the puja room while the incense burns, and air the room before they return.
• Never burn incense in a room where a baby sleeps, which fire services also advise against.
• Ask the doctor treating the child or adult whether incense should be avoided altogether for now.

If incense smoke seems to bring on coughing, wheezing or breathlessness in anyone at home, stop burning it and talk to a doctor.

Can you burn agarbatti every day?

Many Hindu families light agarbatti every day as part of daily puja, and no study sets a daily limit. The studies that found harm looked at heavy, long-term indoor use, so moderation and fresh air are the sensible response.

If you light incense daily, these habits keep exposure low:

• One stick, lit for the offering and the aarti, rather than several left to burn out.
• A window or door open every time.
• No incense in bedrooms or small closed rooms.
• Extra care on days when outdoor air is poor and windows stay shut; on those days, a shorter offering is a reasonable choice.

The incense offering, dhupa, is one of the five offerings of the simple puja, along with gandha, flowers, the lamp and food. Our step-by-step guide to puja at home shows how short that offering can be while staying complete.

What is not known yet about agarbatti smoke?

Several important questions have no good answer yet, and we would rather say so than guess.

• Low, everyday doses. No study has measured the health effect of one or two sticks a day in an Indian home.
• Charcoal versus charcoal-free. No head-to-head study exists.
• How fast a room clears. We found no peer-reviewed study of agarbatti smoke decaying in a home with a window open.
• Indian products. Most chamber studies tested incense sold in the US, Hong Kong or Singapore. Indian measurements are few, and the Kanpur study was in temples.
• Specific fragrances. No study we found ranks sandalwood, rose or other scents for smoke.

How we checked these facts

We took every finding from a named study or a health or fire authority, read the abstract or summary ourselves, and recorded its setting and limits. Findings backed by only one study are worded "one study found". Some PubMed and PMC pages were blocked by a reCAPTCHA while we worked; where a figure rests on an abstract seen through search, our research file flags it.

• Chamber and field studies: Jetter et al. 2002, abstract and the archived US EPA indoor sources project page; Lee and Wang 2004; See and Balasubramanian 2011; Lui et al. 2016; Goel et al. 2017, Kanpur temples; National Taiwan University project report; UAE oudh and bakhoor study; ANI report on the 2015 South China University of Technology study.
• Long-term studies: Friborg et al. 2008; Pan et al. 2014; the American Lung Association summary of children's studies.
• Health guidance: NHS West Yorkshire guidance for parents; NHS North Central London asthma leaflet; ACAAI, October 2024.
• Fire safety: London Fire Brigade, Coulsdon fire and Hanwell fire; Greater Manchester Fire and Rescue; Country Fire Authority, Victoria; Fire and Emergency New Zealand; Cambridgeshire Fire and Rescue warning; Medical Dialogues on PGIMER.
• The standard: Deccan Herald, December 2025; KNN India. We found no PIB page for IS 19412, so these news reports of the ministry's statement are our source.

Related reading

For the practical side of the offering, read how to light agarbatti in puja and our guide to agarbatti ash and holders. To understand what is in the stick, see how agarbatti is made in India and what charcoal-free agarbatti means. If you are still learning the words, our guide to agarbatti meaning in English and Indian languages starts at the beginning, and daily pooja essentials covers what else sits on the puja tray.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is agarbatti smoke harmful to health?

Agarbatti smoke is a source of indoor air pollution: it releases fine particles, carbon monoxide, formaldehyde and other compounds. Long-term studies link heavy daily indoor use with respiratory and heart problems. No study has measured the effect of one or two sticks a day in a ventilated room, so moderation and fresh air are the sensible course.

Is agarbatti smoke worse than cigarette smoke?

Per gram burned, incense gives off about 45 mg of particles against about 10 mg for cigarettes, according to the ACAAI and the American Lung Association. But that is per gram, not per stick, and smokers inhale directly. It does not mean one puja stick is "worse than smoking".

Can I burn agarbatti every day at home?

Many families do, and no study sets a daily limit. The harm found in studies came from heavy, long-term indoor use. If you light incense daily, use one stick for the offering, keep a window or door open, avoid bedrooms and small closed rooms, and put it out after the puja.

Is agarbatti smoke harmful for babies and children?

NHS guidance lists incense sticks among home activities that can trigger a child's asthma and advises opening a window if you burn them. One Hong Kong study linked household incense with slower lung-function growth in children. Keep children out of the room while incense burns, and never burn it where a baby sleeps.

Can agarbatti smoke trigger asthma?

Yes, it can for some people. The NHS lists incense sticks as a possible home trigger for children's asthma, and the ACAAI suggests that people with asthma or COPD consider shorter burns, better ventilation or electric alternatives. Anyone with asthma should follow their own doctor's advice about incense.

Does charcoal-free or "smokeless" agarbatti give off fewer harmful compounds?

No study has compared charcoal-based and charcoal-free agarbatti head to head, so nobody can say. Nearby studies are mixed: one found "eco" incense gave less PM2.5 but more PAHs, and another found products sold as environmentally friendly emitted no less. Less visible smoke does not mean fewer harmful compounds.

What chemicals does IS 19412:2025 ban in agarbatti?

IS 19412:2025 bans eight substances in agarbatti: the insecticides allethrin, permethrin, cypermethrin, deltamethrin and fipronil, and the chemicals benzyl cyanide, ethyl acrylate and diphenylamine. It also sorts sticks into machine-made, hand-made and traditional masala types. It appears to be voluntary for now.

How can I reduce agarbatti smoke at home?

Open a window or door before lighting, use one stick rather than several, and put it out once the puja and aarti are done. Keep the stick out of direct draughts, use an exhaust fan in small rooms, never burn incense inside a closed cupboard or mandir, and air the room afterwards.

Where should I keep a burning agarbatti?

Keep it in a heat-resistant holder that catches ash and embers, on a stable non-flammable surface. Place it away from curtains, clothes, paper and hair, with nothing hanging above it, and out of reach of children and pets. Never leave it burning unattended or in a room where people sleep.

Does agarbatti smoke cause cancer?

Research has found an association, not proof of cause. A Singapore study of 61,320 adults found that long-term incense use was associated with squamous-cell cancers of the respiratory tract, but not with lung cancer overall. Because it observed heavy daily use over years, it cannot show what a stick at puja does.

Is it all right to burn agarbatti in a closed room?

Health and fire bodies advise against it. Greater Manchester Fire and Rescue says to open windows or doors so smoke and carbon monoxide do not build up, and the NHS gives the same advice for homes with children who have asthma. Ventilate first, then light.

What should I do with agarbatti ash and the stub?

Let the ash and stub cool completely before you throw them away; hot ash falling on carpet has started house fires. Agarbatti ash is not vibhuti, and we found no reliable tradition for using it. Our guide to agarbatti ash covers disposal and choosing a holder.

Divine Hindu Agarbatti

Divine Hindu Agarbatti is made in India and is charcoal-free, and it burns with less smoke than charcoal-dipped sticks. It is rolled by an NGO production unit under a Government-backed programme. Its fragrances, from chandan and rose to kesar chandan and Kasturi Mrig, are traditionally used in daily puja; you can see them in the Divine Hindu agarbatti collection.

This page summarises published studies and public guidance; it is not medical advice. If you or anyone in your home has asthma, COPD or another breathing condition, follow your doctor's advice about burning incense. For puja practice, follow your family custom and your purohit's guidance.