Divine but Deadly

(by Devotee)

It was a nice, cool Monday morning. I took a slow drive to one of my usual (very old but not favorite) Mamak stall for a simple nasi lemak and teh tarik.

This make shift stall is just beside the Temple at Perak road/Anson road junction. This stall has been around since the late sixties but it did change ownership a few times.

While I was having my breakfast something just struck me. I used to follow my mother to this Temple, very long time ago. She used to offer her prayers to all the Deities there, which can take up to half an hour. In fact this temple houses a variety of Deities from Taoism, Hinduism and Buddhism. Definitely a Democratic Temple.

But what missed me then, struck me on that day, which was, the amount of smoke generated from the burning joss/incense sticks. At that point I realised that it must be hazardous to my health to inhale these fumes albeit its fragrance. The next question was how much damage will this act of worship would bring to the environment? Wouldn’t this act contribute to Global warming since nearly all major religion’s places of worship around the world, burn some form of prayer paraphernalia, everyday?

It got me thinking. Does burning more joss sticks make one more pious? if so, Does being more pious gives us the right to pollute? if so, Doesn’t the pollution caused by the pious, harm the environment?

I believe and respect the rights of a person to practice their chosen religion but they should do so, responsibly.

Thank you.

(p.s.- I’ve already asked my mother to cut down on the joss/incense stick, too!!)

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Attached herewith a study conducted by Dr Manoon Leechawengwong.

Burning joss sticks ‘as deadly as traffic fumes or cigarette smoke’

Photograph: Anuruddha Lokuhapuarachchi/ Reuters

Worship is generally not a life-threatening pursuit. But devotees across Asia could be taking their life into their hands every time they go to a temple to pray, according to a study by a Thai doctor.

Burning joss sticks lit as an offering in shrines and temples fill the air with cancer-causing toxins that are every bit as deadly as traffic fumes and cigarette smoke, says Dr Manoon Leechawengwong.

Dr Manoon, who has just completed a two-year study of temple workers tasked with clearing the smoldering sticks, found the cocktail of chemicals in the smoke put them at risk of leukemia, lung, blood and bladder cancers.

“One joss stick creates the same amount of cancer-causing chemicals at one cigarette,” said Dr Manoon, who led the research. “I knew there would be some carcinogens, but I was surprised by the levels.”

Joss sticks are a type of incense used in worship in many Asian countries. In Buddhism they are believed to aid spiritual communication and serve as an offering.

Dr Manoon’s study was conducted among 40 workers in three temples at Ayutthaya, Chachoengsao and Samut Prakan, sites chosen deliberately far from Bangkok’s traffic pollution. The findings were compared with another 25 people living in a joss-stick free environment.

Temple workers were exposed to high levels of benzene, also known as petroleum ether, related to leukemia; butadiene involved in blood cancer; and benzo[a]pyrene that can cause lung, bladder and skin cancers.

The level of benzene in the temple workers was four times higher than normal, butadiene was 260 times higher, and benzo[a]pyrene – the most dangerous carcinogen – 63 times greater.

Analysis of the temple workers blood and urine samples discovered damage to their DNA, with a correspondingly lower capacity of their bodies to repair that damage.

“We know from our study that there’s DNA damage,” said Dr Manoon. “But what we don’t know is if they will develop cancer. Certainly they have a greater risk. It’s like smoking. Not all smokers get cancer, it’s about 20%.”

But Dr Manoon urges worshippers to reduce the risks by extinguishing the scented joss stick immediately after use, rather than leaving it standing pots of sand as it burns down. Manufacturers could also produce sticks that burn for a minute or less.

“It’s not necessary as part of the ritual for these traditional joss sticks to burn down,” he said. “By putting them out after a minute or so the air pollution would be cut by 30 to 40 times.”

Each year, people around the world light up joss sticks weighing tens of thousands of tonnes, he said.

One tonne of burning joss sticks would emit 325.1 kilograms of carbon dioxide and 7.2kg of methane, he added that the
Smoldering joss sticks release carcinogenic substances in the air and contribute to global warming.

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