CLAIM:

One mosquito coil can be as harmful as 100 cigarettes

FACT:

Multiple research studies have shown that mosquito coils emit harmful pollutants, comparable to multiple cigarettes.

Mosquito coils are a staple in many Indian households, with many people burning it through the night to keep those pesky little blood sucking flies away while you  sleep. However, it might not be the healthiest choice, and could be as harmful as smoking 100 cigarettes according to an Instagram reel. 

The video was shared by veteran journalist Faye D’Souza, who has close to 20 lakh followers on the platform, and features her in conversation with Dr Sanjeev K. Mehta, a renowned pulmonologist with over 32 years of experience who works at the Lilavati Hospital in Mumbai. 

“So a study done by my colleague in Pune had shown that you know those thick coils for mosquitoes, the thick one?… One coil is equal to 100 cigarettes. One coil in the night, in an air conditioned room, circulating like this, now you imagine,” Dr Mehta says in the video, which has over 10 lakh views and 21,000 likes and is cut from a longer interaction between the journalist and the pulmonologist.

Dr Mehta seems to be referring to a study which was published in 2010 and was conducted by Dr Tushar Sahasrabudhe, Professor from the Department of Pulmonary Medicine, D.Y. Patil Medical College in Pune. The exact link to the whole study is not available publicly online but a presentation where this study has been referenced is available and has been linked here.

There have been other studies form other parts of the world as well, that have reached similar conclusions. A 2003 study, titled “Mosquito Coil Emissions and Health Implications,” analysed emissions from four common brands of mosquito coils from China and two common brands from Malaysia, and found that “exposure to the smoke of mosquito coils similar to the tested ones can pose significant acute and chronic health risks.”

“For example, burning one mosquito coil would release the same amount of PM(2.5) mass as burning 75-137 cigarettes. The emission of formaldehyde from burning one coil can be as high as that released from burning 51 cigarettes,” it said. 

Other studies have also shown that burning mosquito coils can emit pollutants at levels much higher than what is considered healthy. “Results showed that during the use of mosquito coils, the indoor concentrations of total volatile organic compounds (TVOCs) and PM2.5 can surge to 2.35–3.33 times and 1.59–7.42 times above the acceptable standards, respectively,” reads another study. 

The resulting household air pollution can have detrimental health effects. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), 

Indoor, household pollution was responsible for about 32 lakh deaths per year in 2020, including the deaths of over 2 lakh children under the age of five.

This story is done in collaboration with First Check, which is the health journalism vertical of DataLEADS. 

Also read: How AI, IoT and drones are winning the mosquito war in Andhra Pradesh