Incense
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| Missing image Incense_anim_smokingbottle.gif Glass Incense burners make interesting designs in the smoke. |
| Missing image Censers.jpg Stick, granulated, and cone incense for home use |
| Missing image IncenseStack0203.jpg Stacks of incense sticks, bundled for sale at a Buddhist temple in Japan |
Incense is a preparation of aromatic plant matter, often with the addition of essential oils extracted from plant or animal sources, intended to release fragrant smoke for religious, therapeutic, or simply aesthetic purposes as it smolders.
Powdered or granulated incense is thrown onto hot coals or into a censer or thurible. Incense is also available in a more convenient stick, cone or wedge form; with these, one sets the incense on fire and then extinguishes the flame so that the incense continues to glow and smoke.
Fragrances used include:
- agarwood
- amber
- ambergris
- gum benzoin
- camphor
- cedar
- clove
- copal
- frankincense
- galbanum
- jasmine
- juniper
- labdanum or ladanum (rockrose)
- myrrh
- musk
- nutmeg
- patchouli
- rose
- sandalwood
- storax
Dangers
Some incense smoke may contain very small amounts of PM10 and Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons (PAHs).
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