Certain FO's kill bacteria

[Donita]

I just read this article on about.com....thought I would share. Donita

http://candleandsoap.about.com/b/a/192436.htm

[ChrisR]

It's actually Essential Oils, not FO's. :smiley2:

[Scented]

Hey I saw that too and thought it was interesting.

[RobinInOR]

What I've never understood about that study is this:

They burned each candle for one, three, or five hours in an airtight chamber containing E. coli and staph bacteria.

How the heck do you burn a candle in an airtight chamber?

[topofmurrayhill]

LOL.

A clever plot by the Essential Oil Extractor's Consortium to slip a fabricated study into the press, but their underhanded scheme is uncovered by sharp-eyed Robin, who spots the obvious flaw of logic.

[diamondgirl_26]

Even if you could light a candle in an airtight chamber, it would be the heat from the flame that killed the bacteria not the EO>

[SatinDucky]

Air tight doesn't mean it's airless. Though I don't see how they could keep it burning for that long before the air was consumed. Maybe it was a really big chamber?

[topofmurrayhill]

Maybe the bacteria were asphyxiated.

They may have needed to wick up on the candles that didn't work.

[Henryk]

I agree(d)

http://www.candletech.com/cgi-local/yabb/YaBB.cgi?board=veggiewax;action=display;num=1110139978;start=1#1

[GirlWithTheCurl]

Hmmmm..."lost in translation," perhaps?

Found some interesting links researching this topic...

Contact info for one of the researchers:

Dr Lindsey Gaunt, School of Electronics and Computer Science, University of Southampton, tel. 023 8059 5163; email lfw@ecs.soton.ac.uk

http://www.soton.ac.uk/Press/PressReleases/Name,3628,en.php

Abstract and Keywords of All Papers Presented to 6th IEJ-ESA Joint Symposium

http://streamer.t.u-tokyo.ac.jp/~iesj/joint04WEBabstract.htm

9p-6 The Antibacterial Effects of Ionized Vapours Emitted from Candles

Sabrina Higgins, Lindsey Gaunt and John Hughes

School of Electronics and Computer Science, University of Southampton

It is known that ionized species such as those generated by a corona discharge can have bactericidal effects and that similar ionized species are emitted from the flame of a candle. Liquid contact tests have shown that certain volatile compounds have antimicrobial effects. This research aimed to explore the combined bactericidal effects of ionized species emitted from a candle flame and volatile compounds present within candle wax. The essential oils of orange, palmarosa, may chang and thyme as well as a constituent of tea tree oil; β–pinene, were incorporated into the molten candle mixture. These candles were tested against Escherichia coli (E. coli) and Staphylococcus aureus (S. aureus), (gram negative and gram positive respectively), in an enclosed booth with a volume of 2.7m3. Results show that a candle containing any one of these volatiles has a greater antibacterial effect than a plain wax candle or the vapour from the volatiles alone.

K/W: Antibacterial, Essential oil, Ionized species, Candle, E. coli, S. aureus, β-pinene, Thyme, Orange, Palmarosa, May chang.

And stumbled upon this...unrelated but fascinating nonetheless:

Click on "Quality Inspection Specs"

http://www.kerzenguete.com/english/home.htm

[David]

I agree it's got to be a joke! I have a hard time beliveing a serious sientist would even present this. I read this awhile back and didn't mention it because, well if you have to contain it in such a small space for such a long time what earthly good is it?

[SatinDucky]

I agree it's got to be a joke! I have a hard time beliveing a serious sientist would even present this. I read this awhile back and didn't mention it because, well if you have to contain it in such a small space for such a long time what earthly good is it?

You gotta start somewhere. They didn't get men to the moon without a vacuum chamber in the beginning

[Tess]

Well acutally you CAN burn in an airtight container. Air tight means it just prevents air from slipping in and out. There are still some air particles in the air. NOW if it were a small container, the air would eventually be evaporated by the flame and turned into carbon dioxide/monoxcide.

AND certain EO's are most definately proven to kill airborn bacteria. Some of these are lavender, and eucalyptus. (I have done my research can ya tell).

Sooooo it is possible that some FO's do too, but maybe not as well as straight EO. It depends on the purity of the FO really. I use Eucalyptus to wipe down surfaces in my bathroom, when I am sick and sometimes burn the oil in a diffuser in my room when I am down with the flu. It must work too, because when I do it, no one else gets sick. HTH:)