Burning Candles – The Hazards
Once upon a time all room lighting at night was courtesy of candles or oil burners. It was a way of life. Today candles are becoming more and more popular to provide soft and romantic lighting. Compare eating a fine dinner by candle light to eating by the light of a fluro! Candles are also used for religious or spiritual events
Take Care with Burning Candles
The light from a candle is produced by a burning flame. A burning flame is a source of ignition. If it comes into contact with flammable materials like clothing, curtains or paper, you’ve got big trouble. Animals, children and careless adults can all pose a threat. So be very careful when using burning candles.
The main area of concern is to prevent anything flammable from coming into contact with the naked flame. It’s obvious really.
Remember that substances like kerosene, petrol and diesel also give off a gas that is heavier than air and will ignite with disastrous consequences if allowed to come into contact with burning candles. As I’ve mentioned before curtains clothing and paper should be kept well away from burning candles. Another danger to be aware of is wooden uprights or architraves. Heat rises so anything that is above the candle could possibly be ignited.
Never leave burning candles unattended. If you can’t see them you have no idea when things go wrong. A candle can topple from careless placement or a sudden breeze could blow paper onto it.
A properly maintain fire extinguisher is always an asset in the home and if you intend using burning candles a lot, it could be a necessity.
When candles burn they produce molten wax. Get this molten wax on your hand and you could end up with a burn. Tall candles will usually have a pool of molten wax at the bottom and the little tea lights usually end up burning in a pool of molten wax. Also remember that if you put burning candles in containers that the containers will also get hot. Another potential source of pain!
When you have finished with them always make sure that you snuff out burning candles properly. If you are using paraffin wax candles be aware that, especially in an enclosed area, paraffin emits toxic fumes which are dangerous to inhale and not only that they also produce carcinogenic particles when burned.
It’s all commonsense really, just take sensible precautions and you can enjoy burning candles in complete safety.
If you are worried about some of the more unhealthy aspects of paraffin wax candles you can also buy beeswax or soy candles these days.
