Church air called hazardous

Just when you thought it was safe to run inside and pray: “Air inside churches may be a bigger health risk than that beside major roads, research suggests.” Candles and incense are deemed likely culprits for the prevailing high levels of polycyclic hydrocarbons and particulates, the latter of which were found at 12 to 20 […]

Just when you thought it was safe to run inside and pray: “Air inside churches may be a bigger health risk than that beside major roads, research suggests.” Candles and incense are deemed likely culprits for the prevailing high levels of polycyclic hydrocarbons and particulates, the latter of which were found at 12 to 20 times permissible EU levels. (“Church air is ‘threat to health'”, BBC, Nov. 20). Libertarian Samizdata has a rather drastic suggestion for what to do about the new findings. Another possibility, of course, is that the official EU hazard limits are set at a super-cautious level that has little to do with the amount of risk most people would consider it reasonable to bear. More on the candle menace: Jun. 19, 2001 (EPA advisory); Nov. 4-5, 2002 (Calif. “right-to-know” suits against candle makers).

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