Airborne compounds in the indoor environment arise from a wide variety of sources such as environmental
tobacco smoke, heating and cooking, construction materials as well as outdoor sources. To understand
the contribution of scented candles to the indoor load of airborne substances and particulate matter, candle
emission testing was undertaken in environmentally controlled small and large emission chambers.
Candle emission rates, calculated on the basis of measured chamber concentrations of volatile and semivolatile
organic compounds (VOC, SVOC) and particulate matter (PM), were used to predict their respective
indoor air concentrations in a standard EU-based dwelling using 2 models: the widely accepted
ConsExpo 1-box inhalation model and the recently developed RIFM 2-box indoor air dispersion model.
The output from both models has been used to estimate more realistic consumer exposure concentrations
of specific chemicals and PM in candle emissions. Potential consumer health risks associated with
the candle emissions were characterized by comparing the exposure concentrations with existing indoor
or ambient air quality guidelines or, where not existent, to established toxicity thresholds. On the basis of
this investigation it was concluded that under normal conditions of use scented candles do not pose
known health risks to the consumer.