4 ms·
I fully support research like this, because it's always good to get proper data about phenomena. However, I can't help feeling that the results are unsurprising
by seabass-labrax 2y ago
I fully support research like this, because it's always good to get proper data about phenomena. However, I can't help feeling that the results are unsurprising: how could you smell the scented candles if they weren't producing nanoparticles? Surely the existence or abundance of these nanoparticles was never in question?
- protocolture 2y agoThis was my initial thought too. Like if I grow a bunch of nice smelling flowers, and crack open a window during the spring. Am I worse or better off than purchasing a scented candle. Should we as a species stop nice smelling things entirely.
- alabastervlog 2y agoImagine how much “air pollution” one inhales when taking a big whiff of a nice curry.
- bloomingeek 2y agoDon't you mean an hour after consuming said curry? :)
- deleted 2y ago[deleted]
- imp0cat 2y agoActually, it's the cooking that pollutes your indoor air the most. Once the food is on the table, most of the damage is already done.
- readthenotes1 2y agoThe sub-species that I belong to does stop smelling those nice things entirely as my nose clogs up, eyes water, and convulsions known to many as "sneezing" take over my body.
- bloomingeek 2y agoSame here, including incense and most in home fireplaces.
- terribleperson 2y agoNo, but I wouldn't complain if we stopped scenting every damn cleaning and hygiene product. Please, no scented hand soap, or laundry detergent, or especially dish detergent. I'm not gonna complain if people want scented conditioner, but you probably don't need scented shampoo if you're going to condition anyways. Intuitively I'd guess the scented candle is worse than the flowers. I doubt soot and vaporized wax are good for you.
- Lanolderen 2y agoBoth exist tbh. My more medicinal shampoos smell of nothing or bad (assuming because of the active contents and not to smell more medicinal). Sensitive shampoo/detergents seem to be very lightly scented. Kinda just enough to where you can check if your kid washed their hands by smelling them but it doesn't release a citrus bomb around the sink.
- HPsquared 2y agoThe scent thing can be useful for a forgetful person wondering "did I wash my hands recently?"
- Lanolderen 2y agoWhen we were little my dad used to check our hands before eating by smelling them, that's why I mentioned it. In retrospective it seems like a great feature since he didn't have to watch us do it and could with time start doing only occasional checks to see if we'll start slipping until we got the habit.
- alabastervlog 2y agoLots of products smell bad if they're truly unscented. "Unscented" is an effect that is often achieved with... scent. So, still putting stuff in the air for you to smell, but to counter other odors so it smells neutral to you.
- calgoo 2y agoI just had this discussion with my wife yesterday as she bought a scented product for the dishwasher so it does not smell bad. That stuff has ruined several travel mugs etc as i can not get rid of the smell. When i drink coffee, i want to smell coffee, not some lemon whatever. And it always ends up with me being the bad guy for not being reasonable. We already had the same conversation about the automatic perfume spray machines; we had them over the dinner table, on hallways etc. Not so great when you are a tall person, and all of a sudden you get sprayed in your face because you happen to be standing in-front of the machine.
- leephillips 2y ago> how could you smell the scented candles if they weren't producing nanoparticles? By smelling a gas?
- smallerize 2y agoGases are also made of particles. Molecules that you can smell are easily a nanometer across.
- pama 2y agoNanoparticle as a term has a specific technical definition that does not include a random gas made of organic small molecules, which include most molecules we perceive by smell.
- smallerize 2y agohttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nanoparticle#Definitions https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nanoparticle#Definitions ?
- chemicalnovae 2y agoSure, and most small organic molecules are an order of magnitude smaller than that definition.
- aeonik 2y agoWhat? Not an a whole order of magnitude. I thought most orderants were around 0.5 to 1nm in diameter.
- leephillips 2y agoThe nanoparticles that are the subject of the article are not single molecules.
- energy123 2y agoDon't underestimate the amount of education needed for this opinion to be understood and enter conscious awareness. The marketing ploy of an attractive woman breathing in those delicious scents counts for much more to the majority of the population. Regulators need to crack down on this deception, it's the only proven way.
- Lanolderen 2y agoI think it's more so that people don't believe it's bad unless they start drinking parfume. And I'm like that as well. I have a a Febreeze oil thing stuck in a smart outlet so it works only a bit before I wake up and in the evening and my room smells like strawberries at the moment. I also shower with the scented stuff whenever I don't have to use the medicinal stuff, etc. I know the scent probably isn't healthy but I also don't believe it's bad enough to where I should stop enjoying it. Especially considering people who vape aren't dying all over the place. You've got people huffing scents out of X00 Watt sticks for years before it fucks them up in some way in comparison to which my exposure is probably invisible on the graph.
- KennyBlanken 2y agoRead the abstract of the paper. They were demonstrating that combustionless scented products generate very similar levels and types (in chemical composition, size, etc) to scented candles, which they considered noteworthy because many assume the combustion-less products are safer for you (they do not claim to be studying, nor do they make any claims, about health impacts.)
- amluto 2y agoYou can smell genuine, non-particulate gaseous molecules just fine. The issue is that there’s a large class of compounds that will form actual particles, and this phenomenon can be responsible for a surprisingly large fraction of smog.
- Clamchop 2y agoYou don't smell particles, you smell volatile compounds, mostly organic, aka VOCs. These are in their gas phase. This is true of anything that smells. Food, flowers, the forest, breath, body odor, rain on dry ground, your car... Many ingredients used in modern perfumery (scenting your detergent is still perfumery) are novel compounds, like galaxolide, but traditionally and still often enough they are naturally-occurring chemicals, although still synthesized in a factory from petrochemicals a lot of the time. Article seems to be about a chemical reaction of terpenes with ozone, and the result is particles. Terpenes are a specific but large class of aromachemical, both natural and artificial. There are many others. Even products marketed as unscented tend to be scented, to mask off odors from their functional ingredients. Just adding some context.