Incense stick smoke to become safer as Centre takes major health step

New Delhi (The Uttam Hindu): Incense sticks used in home worship, temple aartis, and meditation will now be safer, both for religious reasons and for health. Amidst long-standing concerns about harmful chemicals and artificial fragrances added to incense sticks, the central government has taken a major step.

On National Consumer Day, Union Consumer Affairs Minister Pralhad Joshi released the new Indian Standard for Agarbatti manufacturing, IS-19412:2025. This standard, developed by the Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS), aims to ensure pure, safe, and environmentally friendly agarbatti manufacturing. India is considered the world's largest producer and exporter of agarbatti. This industry, worth approximately ₹8,000 crore, provides employment to millions of artisans and women. The government says the new standard will increase product reliability and strengthen demand for Indian agarbatti in the international market.

Why was the new standard necessary?

Over the years, several reports and studies have raised concerns that some incense sticks contain synthetic chemicals and pesticides, whose smoke can exacerbate problems like allergies, headaches, and breathing difficulties. Prolonged use, especially in closed rooms, has been suspected of impacting indoor air quality.

The new standard bans

certain hazardous chemicals used in incense stick manufacturing. These include insecticides such as allethrin, permethrin, cypermethrin, deltamethrin, and fipronil. Furthermore, certain chemicals used for strong and long-lasting artificial fragrances—such as benzyl cyanide, ethyl acrylate, and diphenylamine—are also considered hazardous to health and the environment and are subject to control/restriction.

From raw materials to burning quality, the regulations

specify raw material, purity, fragrance, burning quality and other technical parameters for machine-made, hand-made and traditional masala incense sticks. The BIS standard mark will be considered a "mark of trust" for consumers, ensuring that the fragrance of worship is both trustworthy and safe.