Mosquito Coils

Mosquito Coils.

Walk down the main street of any tourist town in Southern Thailand and you will likely find a mosquito coil smoking away under every table in just about every restaurant. The tourist wonders: is mosquito coil smoke hazardous to my health?

Travellers seem to fall into two camps on this issue. Some worry about it and try to avoid the mosquito coil smoke; others dismiss the health concern, considering the smoky coils a prudent precaution to thwart insects and the serious diseases they may arbor, most notably, dengue fever and malaria.

Well, according to my investigation, a study by UC Riverside scientists reveals that many mosquito coils most notably those manufactured in Asia often contain up to one percent BCME, which has been described as ‘the most potent lung cancer chemical ever discovered.’ And lung cancer is just about the most deadly cancer known. In one Chinese factory where mosquito coils were manufactured, a large fraction of employees were dead within five years of starting their jobs. The cause? Lung cancer.

By contrast, no study of cigarettes has ever found tobacco smoke to pose anywhere near such a high risk. Put it this way: there is no comparison between cigarettes and mosquito coils.