A recent study revealed that burning herbs and resins plant have a significant effect of air purification. White sage is one of them.
The practice of burning medicinal plants and plant resins has been known in some folk medicines in South America. Even modern medical world has confirmed the benefits of this practice.
A study published by the journal Ethnopharmacology confirms that treatment of drug smoke for 1 hour can reduce airborne bacteria up to 94%. The materials used are burned wood and a mixture of odors and herbal remedies such as samagri havan, a popular ingredient used in many rituals in India. If done in a confined space, this practice can produce a purification effect that can last up to a day.
The researchers used Biolog plate panel and Microlog database and they finally realized the reduction of the presence of some pathogens such as Kocuria rosea, Curtobacterium flaccumfaciens, Corynebacterium urealyticum, persicae Pseudomonas, Xanthomonas campestris pv. Tardicrescens and so forth. Their presence continued to be reduced even up to 30 days after the trial was done.
Some other scientific studies affirm that this practice has been carried out in more than 50 countries in 5 continents, providing a wide range of positive effects on the lung (23.5%), neurological (21.8%), and dermatologist (8.1%). They discovered that ambient smoke, a kind of passive smoke produced by incense can function as an air purifier.
Some of these studies encourage the next research regarding smoke the drug as a method of drug delivery. Advantages of this method are its high speed of delivering the drug to the brain, high absorption rate, and production costs that are quite cheap.
Air Quality
Air quality is one of the health parameters but often overlooked. According to a study by the California EPA, we breathe 10 thousand to 70 thousand liters of air in one day. A study based in the border region of Mexico / Arizona revealed that indoor air quality is much worse than previously thought since more than 500 chemicals have been identified, including chlorpyrifos, diazinon pesticide, DDT, phthalates, and others.
There are various harmful chemicals coming from furniture polish, cigarette smoke, cooking particles, dust, and various fungi, all of which affect the air in a bad way. They are one of the factors why people in urban areas tend to experience some respiratory diseases and fatigue problems. Further research needs to be done but it seems that the smoke treatment method has various promising results.
Source: Collective Evolution
