Incense Gives You Cancer, So Pray Less

Faithful tourists at the A-Ma Temple in Macau, China.

Fon Tok has contributed a photo to this story.

Probably inhaling any kind of smoke can cause cancer, but I also believe that cultivating a meditative state of mind, through meditation or prayer or what you want to call it, reduces the risk of getting cancer from anything. As with everything else; find a balance.

klas.ojebo has contributed a photo to this story.

Lucky i only spent around half an hour on those photographs.haha.But its really interesting to capture those shots,hope you'll like them.

Is this little old lady really offering you up cancer? Or would you suffer more from ingesting low-fat sugar in your tea? This is an age old question.. The answer: Use your own discretion. Is it worth offering your deity(s) a perfumed scent or nice rank body odor? Maybe a nice middle ground could be.. Take a shower before prayer. Good luck! ~Jason Kuethe

jason kuethe has contributed a photo to this story.

I would rather not contribute my photo to this story. The tone of the article strikes me as disrespectful.

You seem to write well and are educated.. Do you really want the message that all incense cause cancer.. Couldn't it be that some are more harmful than others and that if you have quality incense your chance of cancer could decrease.. Don't we as a society have enough to worry about already.. I say keep praying. ~jason kuethe

This incense censer at the Lama Temple in Beijing during the 2008 Olympic Games was filled with burnt offerings from visitors.

JPowersNY has contributed a photo to this story.

I'm not sure if the burning of incense causes cancer or not - it's one of those things that I will leave to the scientists to decide...

It's still better than smoking 40 cigarettes per day.

ossewa has contributed a photo to this story.

I'm an atheist, and I find religion is harmful to ones health on many levels. In regards to incense however, I found that even during a short exposure it made me sick and light headed and I had difficulty to breathe. As for regular church and temple goers go, it's hard to stop tradition.

Hanoi, Vietnam.
Here the air quality is not helped with prayers.

Yaz Bites has contributed a photo to this story.

Picture taken at a bouddhist temple in China in July 2008.

Julien Lozelli has contributed a photo to this story.

I must admit, air quality was not my major concern when this photo was taken...... especially considering that it was taken in Chengdu, China. Its hard to find a blue sky anywhere in China and being Australian, i guess i feel lucky that i (and my lungs) know what fresh clean air really is.

miss kAz has contributed a photo to this story.

Burnt incense, Lebuh King, Penang Island. (It seems that everything's causing cancer these days. Incense had been around for ages, why didn't all those Chinese people get cancer before? Some would live even over a hundred in their lifetimes.)

charliescenes has contributed a photo to this story.

How can something so colorful and beautiful be bad for you? It's just not fair!

zoosnack has contributed a photo to this story.

This story is a bunch of worthless drivel.

Pretty much anything in quantity causes cancer. If you afriad of it, then stop breathing.

Photo: Man Mo Temple. Central, Hong Kong, SAR

streetphotographer has contributed a photo to this story.

This story is a bunch of worthless drivel.

Pretty much anything in quantity causes cancer. If you afraid of it, then stop breathing.

Photo: Man Mo Temple. Central, Hong Kong, SAR

streetphotographer has contributed a photo to this story.

Devotees burn incense at the Lama Temple in Beijing.

Evening Falls has contributed a photo to this story.

This article is disturbing but not surprising. Breathing in large quantites of smoke of ANY kind- for long periods of time- is not going to be healthy! I wonder if the monks will be cutting back on the incense?

Incense burner taken in Xi'an Goose Pagoda on a rainy day. People come to pray to be forgiven for their indiscretions. Our guide told us the monks were happy there because they got to know who all the "bad girls" were.

oytu1 has contributed a photo to this story.

Personally, I don't like the smell of incense and always avoid it. A lot of shops round my way use it all day, I don't go in them! On my visit to China I had to hold my breath while visiting the temples ~ couldn't go all that way from the UK then not go in to see them! 

Well whether incense itself causes cancer or not is debatable. I think most smoke over extended periods will harm pretty much any living organisms. Here in Taiwan incense is not nearly as bad as an offender as spirit money.

It sure is fun though but I can believe it if we overdo the incense routine!

Photo taken at Dongyue Temple in Beijing.

rbatka has contributed a photo to this story.

The makers of these incense do so without any face mask to prevent them (or anyone else) from inhaling the dusts. I unsure if they are aware of the cancer risks associated with incense.

drafunt has contributed a photo to this story.

My photo of incense was chosen and I was asked to submit this particular photo relating to this article. But sorry, I refuse to submit my photo for this article "incense stick causes cancer" which doesn't give any proof of the fact and I refuse to a part of anything which is not authenticated and is based on some research.

Secondly....In India we burn incense stick in honour of god everyday  2 times morning and evening....And I am doing this for last 30 years.....I would urge this website and the author of this article to stop spreading these baseless rumours.

thank you

In Japan people use incense smoke to get rid of negative energies. There are big incense stands outside temples and people gather around them to get completely covered by the smoke.

heldrad has contributed a photo to this story.

The list of things that will certainly give you cancer is growing exponentially every day.  At a certain point, I think we must all accept the fact that we will indeed die one day of something.  Instead of becoming crippled by paranoia and fearful of every breath we take in, we should live our lives. 

Undoubtedly, inhaling smoke of any kind isn't particularly healthy, but we must also think of the richness such practices bring to a culture or custom.  In the Russian Orthodox Church, the incense is only one part of the sensory overload that is meant to induce a transcendence into the spiritual. 

On a recent trip through rural South China, we stumbled upon a small temple where an old Taoist monk invited us in, served us tea and taught us how to pray using incense.  It was an exceptional and beautiful experience and I would hate to have similar experiences cheapened because of the chance that we might eventually die.  There is no need to wonder... we will.  

I am flattered that you asked to use my photos for your piece, thank you.