For many years, Mr. N.V.D, residing in Vinh Long province, has been using incense powder to fumigate his house. After a while, his skin began to show hyperpigmentation, rashes, and numbness in his limbs. Test results showed that the concentration of arsenic in his blood, urine, and hair was abnormally high, and he was diagnosed with poisoning from substances in the incense powder.
Mr. N.V.D shared: “I heard that buying it to steam will drive away bad luck and bring good luck and fortune, so I bought it to steam at home regularly and steamed it every day. After a while, my family and I felt our respiratory health decline. After going to the doctor, he said that there were chemicals in the steaming ingredients.”
Similar to Mr. N.V.D's case, Ms. N.T.T's family in Dong Thap also maintains the habit of regularly fumigating the house. At first, she fumigated the house as a trend, then the frequency increased. However, she did not see any fortune but only saw her health decline. Ms. T said: "I saw this fumigating medicine introduced online as fumigating to bring wealth and fortune. I thought so so I bought it to fumigate the house and found it fragrant. After a while, I went to the doctor and was told that I was poisoned by this medicine through the respiratory tract. I got addicted to this smell, I couldn't stand it if I didn't smell it."
According to medical experts, housewarming can lead to dangerous risks because the products used for housewarming are often floating on the market, containing aromatic substances that are toxic to the body. If inhaled for a long time, it can cause cancer, birth defects, infertility and damage to the nervous system...
According to Dr. CK2 Quach Minh Phong (Head of Respiratory Internal Medicine Department, Le Van Thinh Hospital, Thu Duc City, Ho Chi Minh City), when we burn incense, the types of paper such as votive paper that are reused and cooked will produce a lot of impurities and when burned, will produce very high levels of Carbon (CO) gas. When burning incense, we accidentally inhale CO gas.
According to medical science, CO has a great affinity for Hemoglobin, while hemoglobin is responsible for transporting oxygen to the brain to nourish the body. This makes hemoglobin no longer able to carry oxygen, reducing the amount of oxygen to the organs and tissues in the body.
Because CO binds to hemoglobin more strongly than oxygen, the body lacks oxygen, causing CO poisoning. Doctors advise people: "Do not enter the house, especially families with children under 5 years old and family members with respiratory diseases, asthma, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease...".
Not only does housewarming pose a risk of dangerous diseases, it can also cause fires and explosions and other unpredictable consequences. When using any product on the market, we should find out its origin and avoid floating products of unknown origin if we do not want to “lose money and get sick”.
