The advent of summer, every day by the mosquitoes infusion of blood lessons really bad, would like to use mosquito incense to pay tribute to these small creatures, but was told “point a plate of mosquito incense equal to even smoke 6 packets of cigarettes!” Mosquito, really will have such a painful price? Take mosquito incense and cigarettes compared to the original practice is not an empty wind. Mosquito incense as an important means of mosquito control in the summer in tropical areas, after the ignition of particulate matter and gas pollutants produced on the human body harm in recent years there are a lot of research. The same indoor air pollution sources, but also the smothering process, mosquito incense and cigarettes to do a comparison is also a common means of such research (limited to a single pollutant indicators of comparison). But when it comes to this “a tray of mosquito incense equal to six packs of cigarettes” …… who the level of toxicology so high ah, the toxic dose of two mixtures can be calculated to such precision? This problem and the air pollution into the number of cigarettes similar, ignoring the complexity of the situation, are not scientific and accurate. Nanping First Hospital Intensive Care Unit Wang Jun t or first recognize the mosquito incineration will release a variety of substances it. Pyrethroids: This is a mosquito incense really effective mosquito components, a class of synthetic insecticides that mimic natural pyrethroids, not highly toxic to humans, but also no carcinogenic and teratogenic effects. The doses of pyrethroids that can be released by mosquito coils are considered safe for humans in various literature. However, the entire mass of mosquito incense, only less than 1% is pyrethroids (the content in different products will vary), the real concern is that the remaining more than 99% of the auxiliary materials (mainly wood flour and adhesives, etc.) of combustion products. Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons: is a class of compounds containing multiple benzene rings in the molecule, the plant incomplete combustion is easy to produce, so the mosquito, cigarette smothering process will have such products. Some of them are strongly carcinogenic, and some are suspected to be carcinogenic, so they are a class of air pollutants that are strictly controlled. Research on this type of pollutant confirms that the total amount of PAHs produced by burning 1 gram of mosquito coils is much smaller than the total amount of civil coal, wood and sanitary incense, but an order of magnitude larger than the amount of PAHs in frying oil smoke. And compared with another protagonist cigarettes, 1 gram of mosquito incense and 1 gram of tobacco production is equal. A plate of mosquito incense about 15 grams, that in terms of this pollution indicator can be analogous to lighting 15 cigarettes. Formaldehyde: This common indoor air pollutant usually lurks in the decoration paint adhesives can also be detected in mosquito smoke, formaldehyde has an irritating effect on human mucous membranes, long-term inhalation has carcinogenicity. Some literature shows that the amount of formaldehyde released by a tray of mosquito incense is equivalent to 51 cigarettes. Carbon monoxide: as a product of incomplete combustion of organic matter, it can seize the hemoglobin in the blood red blood cells to prevent the combination of oxygen with it. A study shows that the same mosquito incense, smokeless mosquito incense than smoked mosquitoes release a large amount of carbon monoxide. Benzene: mainly including benzene, toluene, o-xylene, p-xylene, etc., these substances also have respiratory irritation, carcinogenicity. After burning mosquito incense, the content of benzene in indoor air is close to the “indoor air quality standards” (GB/T18883-2002) values, if the windows are open and ventilated or housing area is large enough to meet the standard, otherwise it may be over the standard. PM2.5: mosquito incense release of atmospheric particulate matter is mainly concentrated in the fine particles part, and this part is precisely the greater impact on human health, so concern This indicator of the literature is more. A study gives a plate of mosquito incense released PM2.5 is a cigarette 75-137 times, this figure is also greater than the article mentioned at the beginning of the 6 pack of cigarettes. From the above data can be seen, lit mosquito incense does have a significant impact on indoor air quality, but the simple and crude comparison of a plate of incense and 6 packets of cigarettes is not scientific. The two sources of pollutants released by the difference in the amount of each pollutant and different, the existing evaluation techniques can not be based on such data to estimate the number of mosquito incense and smoke equivalent. However, it is undeniable that mosquito incense does cause indoor air pollution. In addition, there is a lack of medical aspects of indoor air pollution caused by mosquito incense on the health risks of a comprehensive study and assessment. Smell the fragrance? Be bitten? Difficult choice then, mosquito incense should not be outlawed? First of all, let’s run a topic to see another story: the pesticide DDT was invented when World War II was in full swing, its appearance effectively stopped the rampant epidemic, and thus in 1948, its inventor won the Nobel Prize in physiology and medicine. DDT was then applied on a large scale to farms, villages and fields …… to control various pests and diseases. Less than a decade later, questions began to be raised about the death of birds of prey due to it. In 1962, Rachel Carson published Silent Spring, which is considered to be the pioneering work in the field of environmental science, mainly questioned the threat of organochlorine pesticides, led by DDT, to the ecosystem. Subsequently, it was realized that DDT is difficult to be broken down in the environment and also accumulates in the fatty tissues of organisms. DDT was officially banned in the U.S. in 1973, and countries around the world gradually joined the ban in the 1980s. This once-glamorous compound is now the antithesis of an environmental science textbook. But the story didn’t end there, and in 2006 the WHO began calling on African countries to reintroduce DDT for malaria control. It turns out that since DDT was banned, malaria had made a comeback with the mosquito infestation, and the new synthetic human insecticide, while degrading much faster than DDT and having less environmental impact, was powerless against malaria. The WHO’s relaunch sets strict conditions for application: it is limited to indoor environments where mosquitoes are prevalent and is strictly forbidden to be used outdoors or on agricultural land to prevent its reintroduction along the food chain. Similar to DDT, the simple prohibition of use and excessive use of mosquito coils are likely to affect the quality of life. Northern summer, with air conditioning, the house may be only one or two mosquitoes harassment, or kill, or tolerate, are not too painful choice. But the humid heat and poor water quality environment, mosquitoes may multiply, spreading disease, if you can use reasonable and appropriate amount of mosquito control measures, the benefits will outweigh the risks. From this aspect, the mosquito incense and cigarettes for comparison is also inappropriate, cigarettes that is a hundred harm but no benefit. Whether to continue to use mosquito incense, it is best to judge according to the actual situation. Now in addition to mosquito incense, there are also mosquito nets, mosquito repellent, electric mosquito tablets and other means of mosquito prevention (mosquito strategy see: how and mosquitoes to the end of the perfect fight? ). And if you use mosquito incense, there are several tips to reduce pollution recommended to you: ignite the mosquito incense when pay attention to ventilation. This is conducive to the diffusion of pollutants, of course, mosquitoes will also want so. Choose to use smokeless mosquito incense. In addition to carbon monoxide, the overall smokeless mosquito incense pollutants to significantly less than smoked mosquitoes. Reduce the amount of use. In view of the mosquito incense mosquito control ability is relatively strong, you can reduce the amount of mosquito incense according to the situation, do not take out a whole tray on a full point. Choose a small pollution products. The difference between different brands is still relatively large, a survey found that Chinese mosquito incense release of pollutants in general to be smaller than Malaysia and other countries. References: [1] Liu Weili, et al. Mosquito coil emissions and health implications. Environ Health Perspect, 2003,111:1454-60.[2] Fang Yuan, et al. Effects of mosquito coil on indoor air quality. Building Thermal Ventilation and Air Conditioning, February 2006. [3] Liu, Xiaotu, et al. Study on the emission of benzene during the combustion of mosquito incense and Buddhist incense. China Environmental Science, 2011:31(12). [4] Zhou Hongcang, et al. Distribution and correlation of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons in the combustion products of mosquito coils. Journal of Environmental Science, 2010, 8. [5] Chen Huafeng, et al. Particle size and mass spectrometry of mosquito smoke aerosol single particles. Environmental Science and Technology, 2007, 12. Thanks to the original author: White Bird