Candles

Candles

According to industry sources, about 200 American companies - and countless small craft producers - manufacture candles. Their collective consumer retail sales currently exceed $2.3 billion annually, with annual growth rates now well above 15%. Candles are used in more than 70 percent of all US households. More than 96% of all candles sold in the US are bought by women. Candles are featured in catalogs and advertisements, often to depict other products in positive settings. The "1997 Residential Fire Loss Estimates" recently released by the US Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) reports that civilian deaths due to ignition by a candle numbered 220 in 1997 - an 83% increase over 1996, when civilian deaths attributed to candle ignition were reported at 120 by the CPSC. In a report released October 28, 1999, the National Fire Protection Association noted that fire deaths and injuries were at an 18-year peak in 1997 - the most recent year of data available at the time. Property damage as a direct result of candle fires reached $170 million.

Some experts believe that candle safety will improve if wicks do not extend the full length of a candle - with perhaps a 1/4 inch margin of wax left at a candle's bottom. Such candles would self-extinguish, thereby helping to address the fairly common problem caused by consumer carelessness. Health and environmental experts also have raised concerns about candles. The Journal of the American Medical Association (Vol. 284 No. 2, July 12, 2000) published a letter from Public Citizen's Health Research Group expressing concerns about air emissions from the lead used to stiffen some candlewicks. The letter noted that in spite of a voluntary commitment by candle manufacturers not to use lead in wicks, independent testing revealed that the practice has continued. The Environmental Illness Society of Canada has issued a similar warning related not only to lead emissions but also to some 19 other toxic emissions from burning candles. Technology appears to exist to lessen emissions. Such companies as the CW Group, located in Oakland, CA, offer "soot-free" Clean Wax.TM

Members of the National Candle Association are addressing some of these concerns through the ASTM F15.45 Candle Products Subcommittee.

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