Path: typhoon.sonic.net!not-for-mail Message-ID: <3D559437.74F9@luckymojo.com> From: catherine yronwode Reply-To: cat@luckymojo.com Organization: Lucky Mojo Curio Co. X-Mailer: Mozilla 3.01-C-MACOS8 (Macintosh; I; PPC) MIME-Version: 1.0 Newsgroups: alt.aromatherapy,alt.folklore.herbs,sci.med,sci.chem,alt.lucky.w Subject: Re: Is it safe to burn Benzoin incense ? References: <757a7818.0208090509.65dd8976@posting.google.com> Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Lines: 47 Date: Sat, 10 Aug 2002 22:24:44 GMT NNTP-Posting-Host: 209.204.150.247 X-Complaints-To: abuse@sonic.net X-Trace: typhoon.sonic.net 1029018284 209.204.150.247 (Sat, 10 Aug 2002 15:24:44 PDT) NNTP-Posting-Date: Sat, 10 Aug 2002 15:24:44 PDT Xref: typhoon.sonic.net alt.aromatherapy:35201 alt.folklore.herbs:101860 sci.med:222710 sci.chem:181896 alt.lucky.w:12319 Tsu Dho Nimh wrote: > > digravecci@tiscali.fr (Pierre Digravecci) wrote: > > >I have recently bought bits of Siam Benzoin in an incense shop. The > >last time I have burnt some, it soon became impossible to breathe > >inside the room, as this thing were producing an incredibly > >irritating smoke. Afterwards I noticed a large amount of (beautiful) > >white crysallic deposit under the metallic lid of my burner. > > Benzoin is a disinfectant: tincture of benzoin, benzoic acid > (used in food). It's a skin wash more than anything. > > > My questions are: > > - What are those white crystals ? > > My guess would be benzoic acid - in its pure form, > > > - Are there special conditions for this chemical reaction to > > happen ? > > High concentration of aromatics in what you are burning. The > second batch was probably not very high quality. > > > - Can I safely go on burning this incense ? I have read on a > > toxicology report that chemical Benzoin is commonly used in > > inhalants as an expectorant and antiseptic. But a few lines further > > they say that it may be harmful by ingestion, inhalation or skin > > absorption. > > Given that is became "impossible to breathe" and you found the > smoke "incredibly irritating", why would you even WANT to give it > another try at your lungs. I have burned Benzoin (Styrax benzoin Styran officinalis) as an incense for years, both alone and in combination with Frankincense, Sandalwood, Camphor, Myrrh, Copal Oro, Copal Negro, and/or Dragon's Blood resin -- and i have not found it irritating to my lungs, nor did it produce a whitish crystal deposit on my incense burners. Perhaps the product in question was adulterated in some way to increase its weight? cat yronwode Hoodoo Herb and Root Magic http://www.luckymojo.com/hoodooherbmagic.html