Lux Not So Lumine

What astonishes me is the apparent absence of common sense amongst the population at large, never mind forgetting the lessons of history.

Quite why it should take scientific research of a high order to establish what is very obvious is a comment on the way our minds have been warped by the onslaught of marketing and advertising.

This item on scented candles is a choice example.

If you have something burning with an open flame it will discharge stuff into the air. If this is indoors in a room with limited ventilation then you will breath it in. Also, it will affect your skin and clothing.

The trouble is that something burning might have an acrid or other strong smell that you do not like much. So you buy something that has strong chemicals to deliver a smell that is designed to please people.

This does not send the other stuff away as it is suggested, it just is stronger and designed to impact more. In order to have a pretty effect you might have several of them burning away.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-2012034/Could-scented-candles-kill-Theyre-womens-favourite-indulgence.html

For those of us who grew up in the age of coal, open fires and power cuts, our memories of smoke and candle light are not the happiest ones. Our parents and grandparents could not wait to put in electricity to get rid of all the work and chiefly the smells.

Also, as all the authorities used to tell us as the time, air pollution is bad, fresh air is good. In the mid 20th Century we began to achieve an environment that was cleaner and better for us.
Now we are putting back the dirt into the drawing room.