Ionize Away with Beeswax Candles
by Mairi Beautyman, Berlin, Germany on 02.23.06
Today, I learned beeswax is a natural ionizer. Dust, odors and other bacteria? These guys are positively charged—courtesy of static electricity, they hang around in the air. So, beeswax reportedly emits negative ions when burning, which combat and reduce environmental pollution and indoor air problems in your home. This all boils down to 100% beeswax candles by Luxe for Et al Designs. The naturally smokeless, soot-free, non-toxic and non-allergenic candles ($42 each) are created from “homeopathic” essences and essential oils distilled from organically grown flowers, plants and herbs, which “flourish in lush abundance” in the remote northern highlands in and around Chiang Mai, Northern Thailand. Yup, and they also smell yummy. To order, call 510-834-1800.
The product is sound, the price is ridiculous. I wonder how one could make these at home?
Last time I looked Bees Wax was wholesaling between 8 and 12 per pound if bought in small lots. Big lot purchases for 3 to 6 bucks/pound. There are some Ebay resellers.
Yes, let's see if I got this right... I'll burn something to help reduce air pollution. Hmmm, ok?
It drives me nuts when people try to sell their products with pseudoscience. Do these fools even know what an ion is? Ask them to explan ions and ionization, and compare their response to a text book. I dare you.
Burning bees wax doesn't give off negative ions. If these people had even a decent highschool chemistry or physics education, they'd know that something can't keep giving off ions of one charge; that would cause the opposite charge (in this case, positive) to build up on the candle until the accumulated charges neutralize with a strong static discharge. (Lightning is the one of the examples of what happens when negative ions fill the air.) If the beeswax kept giving off negative ions, it would become incredibly positively charged, and you'd shock yourself trying to touch it. And if it did keep givng off "negative ions", the negative ions would be attracted back to the positively charged candle to neutralize it.
Burning beeswax doesn't give off anything but carbon dioxide, a bit of water vapor, and some soot.
Anyone present who has bought one of those idiotic (and expensive) himalayan salt crystal lamps that allegedly "fill the air with negative ions" ought to go back to highschool with their heads hung in shame! The proliferation of new-age feel-good pseudoscience and the environmental community's eagerness to embrace it without thinking twice sickens me to no end.
Let me refer those of you who didn't learn what an ion is in highschool to an encylcopedia entry:
What is an ion?
To spare you my repeating myself on this topic, let me also refer you to the discussion on "healthful negative ions" pseudoscience at Wikipedia. There, I explain what you need to know to protect yourself from pseudoscience scams such as scammers or fools erroneously claiming that their product gives off negative ions or that somehow that's good for your health if such a thing acually happened.
To spare you my repeating myself on this topic, let me also refer you to the discussion on "healthful negative ions" pseudoscience at Wikipedia. There, I explain what you need to know to protect yourself from pseudoscience scams such as scammers or fools erroneously claiming that their product gives off negative ions or that somehow that's good for your health if such a thing acually happened.
For your reference, the soot output of a candle is a function of the length of the wick and the concentration of oxygen in the air, not the kind of wax it's made out of.
If you burn a beeswax candle with a wick that's too long, you get a long orange flame with visible soot coming off the flame. If you trim the wick on a petrolium based candle so the flame burns short and tight and efficiently, you won't get any soot. Beeswax candles are not magically soot free.
And re: "Dust, odors and other bacteria? These guys are positively charged—courtesy of static electricity, they hang around in the air." No they don't. Not everything you listed is positively charged; they tend to pick up positive charges, but they are not intrinsically positivey charged. Positively charged airborn itemss do not stay airborn; they are attracted to surfaces that have the opposite charge, such as CRT Television screens.
As for "beeswax reportedly emits negative ions when burning, which combat and reduce environmental pollution and indoor air problems in your home." I challenge you to find out a cause-and-effect explanation from them as to how exactly this is supposed to happen.
(I am willing to bet they can't tell you, or won't tell you, because no such thing happens.)
I make and sell beeswax candles and I've been trying to find out for ages if there is any truth to the claim about negative ions. I've read Berkana's Wikipedia entry and it sounds more like truth than the claims.
BTW, essences and scents, even essential oils, should never be added to good beeswax candles. Essential oils lose their effectiveness when heated (though not their scents) and beeswax doesn't need additives. It's a perfect, natural product just as it is. It also doesn't need a $42 price tag!